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HINTS
ON
EMIGRATION
TO
UPPER CANADA;
ESPECIALLY ADDRESSED TO THE MIDDLE AND
LOWER CLASSES
IN
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
BY MARTIN DOYLE,
AUTHOR OF HINTS TO SMALL HOLDERS,
&c, &c. &c.
SECOND EDITION ENLARGED.
WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND CO. DUBLIN;
SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, LONDON;
AND OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH.
1832 ,
CONTENTS.
Division. Page.
L The Author’s reasons for writing. 3
2. The Canadas. ib.
3. Upper Canada considered with reference to extent—
Facilities of Water-Carriage—and Soil. 11
4. The Natives.—The productions of Upper Canada—
animal, vegetable, and mineral. 23
5. The chief Productions—Trees, Corn, and Fruit. 40
6. Minerals—Manures. 42
7. Habitations—Employment—Preparation of the Soil
—Mode of Farming. 44
8. The rates and stipulations on which Land can be pur¬
chased in Upper Canada. 59
9. How an Emigrant is to reach Upper Canada, and at
what cost. 62
10. Rates by Quebec. 63
11. Conclusion. 66
APPENDIX.
Extracts from original and unpublished Letters. 70
Table showing the highest, lowest, and mean temperature
of each month, in Upper and Lower Canada, during
the year 1820. 86
Emigration to the Canadas during a period of Nine Years ib.
Colonel Covert’s Address to the Northumberland Agri¬
cultural Association on the culture of Hemp. 88
Clergy of Upper Canada. 91
PREFACE.
The first edition of these Hints (comprising
5,000 copies,) having been disposed of by sale,
I am induced to offer a second to the Public,
with a few prefatory remarks, in reply to ob¬
jections which have been urged by persons for
whose opinions I entertain sentiments of sincere
respect.
These objections are to the following purport:
1. That the Population of Ireland, compared
with her extent and resources, is by no means
excessive.
2. That disappointment and misery are often
the portion of the Emigrant, on reaching our
North American Colonies.
3. That the most valuable of our agricul¬
turists are those who leave our shores—ab¬
stracting their capital, whatever it may be,
from a country where it is so much required,
and in which a profitable investment of it might
be made on advantageous locations.
4. That the tendency to Emigration is so
great as to require no stimulus.
To these assertions I shall endeavour to reply.
1. I must readily admit now, what I have
more than once observed in addressing my
countrymen, that, compared with the extent
and resources of Ireland, if under an improved
B
IV
PREFACE.
system of agriculture , our population is not in
any degree redundant, but until I perceive a
nearer prospect of developing the resources of
the country in such a manner as to insure
remunerating and productive employment, un¬
til I see Cottage Husbandry prevailing every
where under the superintendence and fostering
care of beneficent and resident landlords,—until
I see inducements to exertion held out to the
labouring poor, in the increase of moderate
comforts,—until I see on the parts of the land¬
lords generally, some marked distinction made
between the industrious and the idle, the provi¬
dent and the wasteful, the honest man and the
rogue, the peaceable and the turbulent,—until
I cease to witness neglect, privation, and their
necessary result, wretchedness, around me, I
must assert, that, compared with the actual con¬
dition of this country, and the means available
to adequate employment, the market of labour
is overstocked, and the wages of that labour
insufficient.
When the peasantry of any country are re¬
duced to live on the least possible quantity of
food, and that often of the worst description,
and when I know that the wretchedness which
is daily witnessed among our labouring classes
is not likely to be remedied, I cannot but in¬
dulge the hope, that he who informs them of a
country where industry, health, and frugality, are
sure to preserve at least comfortable indepen¬
dence, and who at the same time warns them
against the errors they might fall into in its
pursuit, and points out the advantages to which
they may attain by Emigration, may justly be
considered as their benefactor.
PREFACE.
V
2. As to the second objection, a very brief
answer will suffice.
It is to prevent the disappointment and
wretchedness complained of, which in many
instances the Emigrant has encountered by being
unable to reach Upper Canada, from want of
the necessary funds, that I have especially
written this tract. By going out at the instance
of an unfeeling and selfish landlord, without
a shilling in his pocket, beyond the mere ex¬
pense of landing him, and being consequently
unable to reach to Upper Canada, where a
demand for profitable labour awaits him; the
Emigrant too often has been dependent on the
charity afforded by the benevolent Societies
formed for the relief of destitute Emigrants, at
Quebec, New York, and Montreal. If he
reads these hints, and has forty shillings in his
pocket, on landing, he will know, if he be not
idle, drunken, or infirm, (and wdiere would a
poor man find the means of living under such
circumstances,) how to escape disappointment
and wretchedness.
3. The third objection is a serious one.
If the great body of our Irish landed pro¬
prietors, (some of whom are all that philanthropy
could desire) would alter their too frequent
practice of setting to the highest bidder, without
regard to character, and when colonizing their
estates select those, who from education, orderly
and industrious habits, and moral worth, would
be creditable and trust-worthy tenants, if they
would superintend their estates, as they ought
to do, and give up the pursuit of mere selfish
gratifications, to advance the general prosperity,
if they w r ould seek something more than the
PREFACE.
vi
abstraction of money from their tenantry, if
they would not evict them from their lands be¬
cause they will not pay rack rents to those
who greedily accept the offers of less solvent,
less respectable, and less honest men—if our
landlords will do all this, and encourage those
excellent families which are now meditat¬
ing their departure from our shores, neither
the strong necessity nor the desire for Emigra¬
tion will prevail among them; they and their
capital may be thus kept at home—how long
will it be alas! before such a change shall have
a general effect ? But until the landlords, one
and all, exert themselves, and until the political
horizon assume a brighter aspect,—until the ever
restless sea of agitation subside (if it may be
God's mercy to avert the storms which have
been so industriously excited by the sinfulness
of man) I cannot in my conscience say “ Do
not go,” to the peaceable and industrious father
of a family, anxious to leave the waters of na¬
tional strife, and to trust himself to the less
terrifying billows of the ocean, to be wafted on
their bosom from the land of his forefathers.
I cannot say, Do not go—wait for the chance
“ of better times ; perhaps the glory of England
“is not about to set for ever, perhaps our
“ Demagogues may cease to trouble us, to en-
“ danger our lives, our liberties, our means of
“ living”—how could I conscientiously hold out
hopes so fallacious, counsel so deceitful ?
4. Ihe tendency to Emigration requires no
stimulus—no —but it requires proper direction',
and if I have been to blame, it has been in my
anxious endeavour to supply it.
M. D.
HINTS ON EMIGRATION
TO
UPPER CANADA.
My Dear Friends,
Your old acquaintance Martin presents
himself again to you in his original character of a
sincere adviser, the more willingly as he knows that
many of you have observed his former Hints with
advantage to yourselves, but grievously aware also*
that too, too many who have not been able or dis¬
posed to follow them, are sunk more and more in
wretchedness—sufferers under famine and disease—
or instruments and victims of lawless depredation.
Many, however, to avoid these dreadful emergen¬
cies, have lately sought in emigration, a prudent
remedy against the evils which hung over them,
and multitudes of relatives and neighbours only
await a favourable report to follow their example.
When I speak of this to you as a prudent remedy,
you may be sure that I approve and recommend the
measure. Do not, however, imagine that I want to
get rid of my old friends; crack-brained and im-
2
provident as you, my Irish ones, are, “ I will love
you still” and will serve you to the best of my power,
and that I am doing- so, at this very moment that I
write, you will hereafter acknowledge.
I do not want to strip the country of its popula¬
tion—the landlords of their tenantry—or the snug
farmer of his comfortable subsistence, by urging* any
wild and doubtful speculation. I am for letting
“ well enough alone,” or if it is to be bettered, let
it be at home; but I am very desirous to rescue
from overwhelming distress, those who struggle
without succeeding, paupers in every thing but in
health and strength, in able bodies, and willing
minds. A field is now open to such adventurers,
and I would, from my heart, exhort them to try it.
It is not that I am tired of you, but that I wish
you well; it is not that I am affronted because
many of m y countrymen (in particular) have not
minded my hints on wholesomeness and cleanliness,
going on still with the old wig or stocking in the
broken window, but it is that I would wish you
where bodily strength will earn you bodily nourish¬
ment in abundance for yourselves and families, and
where an industrious offspring may rise by degrees,
in affluence and comfort, to the possession of a hit
of an estate to be handed down, with tenements,
stock, &c. to a succeeding generation.
And though I would not advise the prosperous
farmer or artisan, to relinquish his advantages and
comforts at home, yet as those who contemplate
the subject of emigration are probably the best judges
of their own private views and circumstances, I shall
try to suit to various classes the information which
the following pages will contain, and which I have
sought out for you, my humbler friends, with great
industry, and now place before you, purely for the
purpose of serving you, and of 'putting you in the
right way, by guiding you to UPPER CANADA,
by explaining to you its circumstances and advan¬
tages, and by guarding you against the blunder you
3
might otherwise commit, by settling in the States,
or in other parts of America.
With this sole object, I have prepared the follow-
ing sheets for your guidance and information, as¬
suring you, at the same time, whether at home or
abroad, of the kindest good wishes and heartiest
good will of your disinterested adviser,
Martin Doyle.
Ballyorley, August, 1831.
THE CANADAS.
Under the name of Upper and Lower Canada is
comprehended a vast extent of country, opening a
wide and happy field of occupation tor those inhabi¬
tants of the British Isles, to whom want of employ¬
ment and contracted means render their own country
unsatisfactory.
To persons thus circumstanced, emigration natu¬
rally occurs as a measure of relief—a measure
hitherto embarrassed with cost and difficulty, un¬
certainty and delay, acting as obstacles to its adoption,
but now assuming a more attractive form, and^ re¬
commending itself to all the honest and industrious
classes, especially to the labouring and unoccupied
poor, who experience insurmountable difficulties at
home, but by carrying with them moral principles
and habits, may, in another country, lay the founda¬
tion of a thriving nation, and have reason to bless
God that they have been driven, as it were, from
4
long- continued struggles and distress into the posses¬
sion of such profitable sources of present indepen¬
dence and future affluence.
This is a subject for the deep and anxious con¬
sideration of Great Britain, whose interest it is to
provide consumers for her manufactures.—The poor
at home cannot afford to become purchasers, but by
locating themselves in the British Colonies abroad
they soon acquire such capital as enables them to
consume the various articles of export, and thus to
contribute not only towards the increased employ¬
ment of the manufacturers of England, but of the
various classes of shipbuilders, provision merchants,
sailors, &c. engaged in conveying manufactures to
the Colonies. And as to Ireland, where, though
purely agricultural, her population exceeds the power
of employment, it is an obvious advantage to occupy
the overplus of her people also, in those more
distant tracts which invite the notice of the husband¬
man, and allure him by their fertility.
When I see so many unemployed and destitute
persons with dependent families, hardy and in¬
dustrious, willing to work, yet unable to procure
employment, I cannot help thinking that it is an
act of kindness to point out to them a place where
a man’s industry is sure of full remuneration, where
toil is recompensed to a degree which circumstances
render utterly unattainable in these countries, and
where he may easily acquire capital and indepen¬
dence.—I would not advise others to do, what under
the same circumstances I would not most willingly
do myself, and what I am not by any means sure
that I shall not yet do, conceiving that the tempting
project of emigration comes at this moment recom¬
mended by various inducements to more than the
lower classes, holding out a fair promise and prospect
of relief from embarrassment at home, political and
pecuniary. I do not, indeed, want to get rid of you,
but I want you to have a happy home in another
portion of the world, if you have it not here, where
o
the idle and distressed are always rendered the tools
of the designing and the crafty.
To those who are favoured with steady employ¬
ment at home, who possess allotments of land,
however small, which furnish them with comfortable
subsistence, I say, “ be contented—make no experi¬
ments—remain where you are—and trust that a kind
Providence will bring order and peace out of the
present confusion and discord which distract these
realms*”
But to those differently circumstanced, Emigra¬
tion is most desirable, and perhaps no country in the
world is more critically suited than North America
to the Irish and Scotch poor in particular; the very
place of all others where those who have not a
shilling in their pockets, and who are accustomed to
vicissitudes of climate and hard work, can live best;
where all those who have been bred to farm and
handicraft work, if industrious , healthy , and sober ,
have a moral certainty of succeeding. All such
persons after two years find themselves in a thriving
condition, and are anxious to have tiieir old country
friends with them ; but mere adventurers—broken
down tradesmen, and scheming shopkeepers, may
just as well stay and starve quietly at home—such
persons would not prosper any where.
Nor is North America suited to ladies and gentle¬
men of veiy small means, who are unused to do any
tiling for themselves; such persons are in general too
tenderly reared, too delicately brought up, to dispense
with the services of domestics, whom they could not
afford to pay in a country where a good pair of
hands is worth much, and who are unable or unwilling
to bear the privations of the first two or three years
of settlement in the woods; though instances are
not wanted of respectable families, with incomes
varying from £50 to £200 a year, living most hap¬
pily and prosperously, and enjoying good society
there; but these persons are generally the families of
naval or military gentlemen accustomed to rough it *
6
habituated to discipline and self controul, and pos¬
sessed of adequate zeal and energy.
In comparing together the relative advantages and
disadvantages which attend a settlement in North
America. 1 am disposed, after a very grave considera¬
tion, to yield a decided preference to UPPER
CANADA, and I shall give you my reasons. First,
as to the United States:
So long a period has elapsed since these were
colonized from the British Isles, that we have, in a
great degree, lost the feeling that they are of a
common stock with ourselves; but in the Canadas
we meet thousands of our countrymen located there,
(comparatively within a few years) with all the
feelings, habits, tastes, &c. of British subjects, living
under the protection of British laws, and having all
the privileges of commerce which are possessed by
us. In short, there is a strong and intimate bond of
union between the Parent Country and the Colonies ;
but if ever again we should be so unfortunate as to
be driven into wars with the States, the new settlers
there, from th« British dominions, would be placed
in a most painful situation—obliged either to take
arms against their relatives from these countries, or
remaining neuter (an unlikely matter in time of war)
to risk the ruin of their properties by the Americans,
whom they would not assist, on the one side, and
the British, who would confound them with the
Americans, on the other. And he who is not a
sworn subject of the States, cannot inherit property,
and would be looked upon, if he did not take the
oath of allegiance, with a very jealous eye—he would
be considered, “neither good fish nor good flesh.”
Besides, I really believe that the Canadas are more
healthy than any of the States. Even that of Ohio,
on the north western boundary, is not so temperate
and healthy as the parts of Canada adjoining. In
many of the States of America slavery still continues;
what native of these free islands would endure the
sight of it? Then with respect to the British
Settlements at Nova Scotia and New Brunswick—
being near the Atlantic they are frequently enveloped
in fogs —and are raw, damp settlements in conse¬
quence, during a great part of the year; these fogs
are prejudicial to health and oppressive to the animal
spirits.
Well then, I have made up my mind that the
Canadas are superior in climate and other circum¬
stances to all other parts of North America; it only
remains for me to state the advantages which the
upper province possesses over the lower .
In the lower one, the heat of summer and the
cold of winter, is excessive; fogs prevail there,
especially towards the sea; the soil is not so good ;
and land is dearer, from the greater extent of culti¬
vation—no trifling consideration to those whom want
of property at home induces to seek it there. Mr.
Ferguson (a most interesting writer on the agricul¬
tural state of Canada and part of the United
States) mentions that “ he had an opportunity of
seeing and conversing with several British Emigrants,
who advised him to look at the Upper Province,
before he formed an opinion upon the eligibility*
of a settlement.
The lower province is two or three degrees more
northerly^ in latitude, and therefore invariably colder
in the winter—so much so, that employment then,
in a great degree, ceases; the severity of that season
which freezes up the rivers, even the vast St. Law¬
rence, prohibits the transport of timber, puts a stop
to trade, and throws out of work those whose pur¬
suits are confined to it, unless with the serious danger
of losing a.nose or the extremities of the hands and
feet from cold; the agriculturist is frequently unable
to work in the woods; and its contiguity to the
* See Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. 15.
f See Table of Temperature (from Col. Fouchette’s Work)
in the Appendix.
8
Atlantic renders it, like New England and New
Brunswick, liable to vapours which are productive
of agues and other complaints; its population also
being, in a great degree, of French and other foreign
origin, this province is not as likely to continue in
firm political connexion (and consequent security
and strength) with the British government as is the
Upper Canada, of which the most desirable settle¬
ments (those in the Huron Territory) are 700 miles
distant from Quebec, and of course still farther from
the Western Ocean; and so much is the climate
ameliorated by the clearing of lands, and the culti¬
vation of the soil, that the farmers, in some of the
improved districts, are said to apprehend that there
will not be a sufficiency of snow to permit the
making of good winter roads for the carriage of their
timber to the saw-mill, or to the rivers or lakes for
exportation.
The summer in Upper Canada is hotter than ours,
but brisk and pleasant from refreshing breezes; the
winter sharp but dry, bracing, and invigorating, and
on the whole you would suppose it much more
agreeable than our winter, in which we have so
much cold dampness , which is more unpleasant and
trying to the constitution than a greater degr'ee of
cold prevailing in a di'y frosty air. From the end of
August to November the weather is delicious; Octo¬
ber is there the most delightful month in the year,
after which commences what is termed the Indian
summer, of most agreeable temperature.
There are, however, in the other months sudden
and decisive changes from heat to cold, and thunder
showers in spring are not unfrequent; but a defec¬
tive corn crop, from deficiency of heat, or the pre¬
valence of rain, is never heard of. In winter the
cold is scarcely ever such as to prevent out of door
labour.—-Rain seldom falls in that season, and as
there are not then the variations of weather ex¬
perienced in England, colds, and the other disorders
which arise from those changes, and especially from
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wetness , do not prevail there. A clear frosty air and
bright sun continue during the winter, which sets in
about Christmas.
Spring (or rather summer, for the one treads
quickly upon the heels of the other) puts forth her
freshness and her beauty often at an early part of
April, yet sometimes exhibits a frosty tint even in
May, or for an occasional night in the opening of
June—-just as with us in these temperate regions—
but on the whole, the climate of Upper Canada is
much less variable than ours, and has fewer un¬
pleasant days in thosq seasons, when bad weather is
peculiarly unwelcome and unguarded against.
Jn a report laid before a Select Committee of the
House of Commons, in the year 1823, by an agent
of the British Government, the following statement
was made as to the climate of Upper Canada.—
“ The climate of Upper Canada is considerably
milder than that of the Lower Province, and the
winter shorter in the same proportion. In both
these respects it improves as you proceed westward,
so much so, that although the frost generally com¬
mences in November at its eastern extremity, and
continues in that neighbourhood till the middle of
April, it rarely commences on the shores of Lake
Erie before Christmas, and it usually disappears
between the 25th of March and the 1st of April.”
“On a comparison with the climate of Great
Britain the heat in the summer months is somewhat
greater, but never oppressive, as it is always accom¬
panied with light breezes. There is less rain than
in England, but it falls at more regular periods,
generally in the spring and autumn. The winter
cold, though it exceeds that of the British Isles, is
the less sensibly felt, in consequence of its dryness,
and seldom continues intense for more than three
days together, owing to the constant fluctuation of
the wind between the north-west and south-west
points. It may be observed that the winter season
is the most favorable to land carriage, as the roads
10
then admit of sledging- in all directions, which is a
very expeditious mode of conveyance, and attended
with but little draft; so that one horse or ox can, in
this manner, easily draw double what he can upon
wheels. It is hardly necessary to state, that in a
country so overspread with timber there can never be
a deficiency of fuel. As the forests disappear the
climate improves/’
The farther you go westward the better the climate
becomes. In the neighbourhood of Lake Ontario
the winter is quite mild, for that Great Lake, from
its extreme depth, never freezes, and in summer the
air is cooled by the refreshing breezes which blow
over its surface ; from the same causes a similar
mildness of the seasons takes place in the vicinity of
the other great lakes.
Taking it for granted that the circumstances which
I have mentioned are sufficient to establish the fact
that Upper Canada is your best destination, I shall
class under their several heads, every matter which
it is necessary for you to be familiar with, before you
set off (as I believe many thousands of you will, in
the next Spring) for that land of peace and plenty.
Nor will it be out of place here, as a conclusion to
these few general observations, to give the following
short extract from a New York paper, which is an
honorable and pleasing testimony from a rival
district.
“ The people of Upper Canada are blessed with
a fine healthy climate and fruitful soil. When the
impiovements in navigation between the waters of
Erie and the St. Lawrence are completed, they will
possess commercial advantages superior (having re¬
spect to their population) to any people under hea¬
ven. Their importations being chiefly from the
mother country, are subjected only to a slight duty;
the support of the provincial government or such
part of it as is derived from the pockets of the
people, is hot burthensome,” (the taxes are so trifling
as not to deserve any notice) “ and the expense of
11
the fortification and defence of the country comes
exclusively from the Parent State.”
To this encomium, as true as it is liberal, may be
added the striking fact, that farming produce in
Upper Canada brings a price considerably better than
in the States, where land is dearer and taxes higher,
which is fully evinced in the late purchases of land
within that province, especially in the Huron Terri¬
tory, by the Americans who have left the States to
avail themselves of this advantageous settlement.
It is to be hoped that they will not bring them, so
as to be injurious to the principles of British settlers,
that extreme spirit of democracy, which, either in a
public or domestic point of view, cannot fail to be
attended with unpleasant circumstances.
Settlers from this country, accustomed to subor¬
dination, must be disgusted at that terrible indepen¬
dence, which makes the son conceive himself beyond
the control of parental authority; and in all situa¬
tions, impresses even those who have not arrived at
years of discretion, and perhaps never may, with an
overweening confidence in their own sense and
judgment.
UPPER CANADA,
Considered with reference to Extent—Facilities of Water-
Carriage—and Soil.
The portion of Upper Canada divided into lots
and available to settlers, extends from Lancaster on
the north-east to Amherstburgh and the Michigan
territory on the south-west, at the upper extremity
of Lake Erie, a distance of 543 miles, its mean
breadth being about 130 miles, divided first into dis¬
tricts, which are subdivided into counties, and again
into townships of ten miles square, each containing
about 64,000 English acres. This great tract con¬
tains a surface of 45,000,000 acres, of which 18 mil-
lions are under rivers and lakes, of such a size as to
awaken astonishment in the human mind.
The rivers and canals run in every direction, in¬
tersecting the country, so as to afford all the facilities
of cheap and easy intercourse with the different por¬
tions of it, and with the sea, there being an uninter¬
rupted conveyance by water between the western
extremities and Quebec.
The names of the great lakes, (beginning at the
western boundary,) are the Huron, (246 miles in
length, and 220 in breadth,) which is connected by
the river St. Clair, with the lake of the same name.
This again is connected by the Detroit river with
lake Erie, which runs a course of 270 miles—at the
eastern end of this lake are the great falls of Niagara,
which I must describe to you.
Four mighty lakes combine to supply this remark¬
able cataract—Lake Erie, more than 600 miles
round—The Huron, 1000—The Michigan, not far
inferior in size—and lake Superior, which is 1500
miles in circumference—unite their “ multitude of
waters,” and rush impetuously down this tremendous
fall of 137 feet.
Some idea of the amazing force with which this
mass of water is precipitated over the rocks, may be
formed from the well known fact, that the noise is 1
heard, under favorable circumstances, at the distance
of 45 miles. The rapidity of the torrent in approach¬
ing the fall, and the violence with which it rolls and
tumbles through the projecting cliffs, may also be in
some degree estimated from the circumstance, that 1
geese, ducks, and other water-fowl, if they do not
quit the surface above, before they come near the
precipice, have not then the power to rise upon the
wing, but are hurried down and killed in the descent.
These are circumstances of terror, which I have
described , but not exaggerated, to prepare my own
countrymen for something more than the falls of
Leixlip, or Powerscourt, Colooney, or Ballyshannon.
The sublime and beautiful of the scenery, (and no-
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thing more sublime or beautiful exists,) I leave to
your respective tastes for the picturesque; and if you
happen not to possess any, it will by no means inter¬
fere with *the laudable objects of your emigration.
You may in this case view Niagara, not as an ob¬
ject of wonder or admiration, but as an impediment
and interruption to your line of sailing, as a bar in
your progress westwards, from lake Ontario to lake
Erie—occasioning trouble, time, and expense, in
carrying goods and passengers over land, from one
vessel below the falls to another above them. But
happily this obstacle has been surmounted. If you
look upon the map prefixed to this little tract, yon
will see that the Welland canal forms a link of con¬
nexion between the lakes. Niagara is no longer to
be viewed as an impediment—but as one of the
grandest works of the Almighty; well worth the
trouble and difficulties of a voyage to America to
behold, even if there were no other matter in view.
Ontario, as you will also see by a reference to the
map, flows to the sea, by the noble river St. Law¬
rence, which passing the great and thriving town of
Montreal, on the boundaries of the two provinces,
(though at present belonging to the lower one,)
holds its majestic course to Quebec, and after widen¬
ing at length to the prodigious breadth of 90 miles,
unites its waters with those of the vast Atlantic.
What a country will this yet become I Its free
navigation, from the remotest parts of the interior to
the Ocean, commanding the export of the finest
•wheat the world produces; timber of the best de¬
scriptions, and all the other produce which the indus¬
try of man can raise in this most fertile region.
The rise and fall of nations and of empires are
under the control of infinite wisdom. If with the
new settlers, religious and moral habits be introduced,
it may please that Mighty Power, whose impartial
judgment decides on ruin or prosperity, to use this
secondary cause of Emigration, as the great instru¬
ment of rewarding individual merit, and raising up to
14
a commanding 'eminence this once savage and be¬
nighted country, through the light of truth and the
blessings of civilization. And it must naturally oc¬
cur to the well-disposed Settler, that though his lot
may perchance for a short time ,* be cast beyond the
reach of regular religious instruction, yet that the
good Christian has always a Friend above , to whose
willing ear he may address himself; nor will the
anxious parent pass over without thankfulness, the
blessing of comparative solitude, if it shall have re¬
moved the objects of his affection from demoralizing
scenes of bad example, and placed them where the
good result of religious exercise will not be defaced
by “ evil communications,” and where a patriarchal
life of faith and holiness, with industrious self-exer¬
tion, cannot fail, (under God’s blessing,) to produce
prosperity and happiness.
But to proceed with my details; there are various
other lakes, which have not been mentioned—lake
Simcoe, and many others on the northern side of
lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence, which will, at no
very remote period, it is probable, be connected by
canals with each other and with the Ocean. One
great water-course is now almost completed from
Kingston at the eastern extremity of Ontario, 133
miles in a northerly direction, consisting of a chain of
lakes joined by canal work, which unites them with
the Grand, or Ottawa river, so as to avoid the navi¬
gation of the St. Lawrence from thence to Mon¬
treal ; that portion of it being full of dangerous and
troublesome rapids. The Ottawa meets the St. Law¬
rence a few miles above Montreal, from which place
to the Ocean there is an uninterrupted sea naviga¬
tion; this canal lengthens the distance from Mon¬
treal to Ontario very considerably; but the saving in <
* It is very lamentable that the funds of the Society for
Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts have been so much
diminished by the withdrawal of Parliamentary funds. There
is a deplorable want of the ministers of religion in many
15
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ithc
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exer-
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irios
-hi*
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time and expense will be very great indeed—and
should wars unhappily occur with the States, it se¬
cures a free intercourse between Quebec, through
Montreal, to the Upper Province, which might
otherwise be frequently interrupted by the Ameri¬
cans, who possess one side of the St. Lawrence. In
time of war such a passage could not be thought
of—without this canal you could not feel security—
with it you have the certainty, at all times, and under
all circumstances, of communication with Quebec,
and consequently with your native country.
Prom Upper Canada, the colonists can send their
timber and corn either to Montreal by the lakes, &c.
/(the course of which, I have already pointed out,) or
by the Erie canal to New York; having two great
outlets for the productions of their lands, and for
the return of purchased articles—clothes, furniture,
implements, &c. &c. they can, according to the rates
of freight, and comparative state of sales at Montreal,
Quebec, or New York, select the most advantageous
market.
With regard to the soil .—From the authority before
quoted in page 9, we have these observations:
“ Upper Canada is blessed with as productive soil
as any in the world, and it is easily brought into cul¬
tivation. The nature of the soil may be invariably
discovered by the description of timber it bears.
Thus, on what is called hard timbered land, where
the maple, beech, black birch, ash, cherry, lime, elm,
oak, black walnut, butter-nut, hickory, plane, and
tulip tree, &c. are found, the soil consists of a deep
black loam. Where the fir and hemlock pine are in¬
termixed in any considerable proportion with other
trees, clay predominates; but where they grow alone,
which is generally on elevated situations, sand pre¬
vails. This also happens where the oak and chesnut
tire the only trees. These sandy soils, though natu¬
rally unfavourable to meadow and pasture, are found
to produce the brightest and heaviest wheats, and
can, with the assistance of a gypsum, which abounds
16
in many parts of the province, be made to bear the
tinest possible crops of clover and Indian corn; and
as a compensation for their inferiority of natural
quality, fever and ague no not prevail in their
neighbourhood. In moist seasons the clays fur¬
nish the greatest burthen of grass. Perhaps there
does not exist in any quarter of the globe, a country
of the extent of Upper Canada, containing so small a
quantity of waste land, either of marsh or mountain,
yet there is not any deficiency of water; for, indepen¬
dently of the numerous rivers and streams which flow
through the country on every side, good springs are
universally found either on the surface or by digging
for them.”
The country is generally level, and covered
with timber. Every description of soil can be had,
so that the settler has it in his power to choose the
description which he likes best; but unless he is an
infallilde judge of the qualities of land, I recommend
his taking one who is perfectly so, along with him,
when about to make his selection, nor should he be
in haste to fix himself, he will find his account in
acting with caution , and examining well the different
farms which will he offered to him before he makes his
selection. The surface is composed of a rich coat of
vegetable mould, the deposit of decayed leaves, and
wood, from unnumbered ages, which when tilled,
yields several successive crops of great luxuriancy,
without manure.
In many places are to be met, but not frequently
upon the banks of the lakes and rivers, but at a dis¬
tance of a few miles, as if to encourage the settler to
plunge into the forest, extensive tracts of rich and
heavy soil, and beyond these, rise in beautiful eleva¬
tions, portions of land the most tempting in their
situations.
This excellent soil is, however, very unfairly
treated by being kept under an unceasing succession
of corn crops without manure, and any land so treated,
however naturally fertile, must be at length impover-
ished. There is less marshy or swampy land, it has
been just now said, for its extent, in Upper Canada
than in any other part of the world ; there are, how¬
ever, some low and swampy grounds, and these, until
the progress of population and improvement, shall
make it worth while to drain them, are the only si¬
tuations from which I warn you to keep clear, while
high and dry land, prudently chosen, near the lakes
or rivers, can be purchased out and out —in fee , as
it is termed—for such a trifle as ten shillings an
acre! !
Just fancy yourselves possessed of real property
on such terms—no yearly tenantcy—no terminable
leases to breed interminable jealousies at the change
of occupants, but pure fee simple—no rent to pay—
landed proprietors —estated gentlemen ! ! ! after la¬
bouring here for a shilling, or ten pence, or eight
pence, or sixpence a day, and receiving even this
perhaps in the shape of a receipt for rack-rent! !
What a happy change would this be, and how irre¬
sistible the temptation to make the experiment!
And only think of the advantage of working a rich,
maiden soil that will yield abundantly, instead of
ploughing or digging a worn out one at home, with¬
out manure to mend it, and which without abun¬
dance of it, will not yield a crop sufficient to pay its
labour.
In trying the new country, and the fresh soil, mind
to fix yourselves near water carriage. I myself
should prefer the banks of Lake Ontario, but there
are excellent quarters about Lake Huron, where the
soil is said to be admirable ; in either of these dis¬
tricts, you can procure lots of land, of sand, loam,
or clay—please yourselves—no compulsion to buy
one lot if you like another better. The soil in the
Huron Territory is a rich sandy loam—suited to
the culture of Tobacco, of which much is grown
there.
The Huron Territory,— is a tract of 1,100,000
acres, in the shape of a triangle, its base being about
18
sixty miles in length, resting on Lake Huron, and
having a direct navigable communication through
Lakes Erie, and Ontario, with the Atlantic.
The chief Town in this district, called Goderich,
is at the confluence of the River Maitland, with
Lake Huron, which promises, from its local advan¬
tages, to become one of the most important and
flourishing settlements in the Province.
Several enterprising colonists, attracted by these
advantages, have left their farms in the neighbour¬
hood of York, to settle at Goderich, with the in¬
tention of erecting a brewery, distillery, brick-kilns,
and a grist-mill; a tavern and saw-mill have already
been erected. The Harbour, the only one on the
Canadian side of the Lake, is capable of containing
vessels of the burthen of 200 tons; and it has been
established as a Port of Entry, which will insure to
the inhabitants a great share of the trade with the
Upper Countries, and their opposite neighbours in
new settlements in the United States.
The scenery on the river Maitland has been des¬
cribed as more like English than any other in Ame¬
rica. There is abundance of brick-earth and potters'
clay in every direction round the town.
The establishments at Goderich have been formed
principally to afford facilities, encouragement, and
protection to Settlers, who may be disposed to pur¬
chase and improve the adjoining lands.
Roads are in progress, an important preliminary to
civilization, which will connect the Huron Tract
with Port Talbot and the various settlements and
Towns on Lake Erie and the Niagara Frontier.
Cattle and provisions can be obtained in abundance
by this route, or by the still more easy water com¬
munication between Goderich and the old well-culti¬
vated Settlements of Sandwich, Amherstburgh, and
Detroit.
A road has also been completed, as before-men¬
tioned, from Goderich, by Wilmot and Guelph, to
the head of Lake Ontario and York j and it is in-
tended to improve and maintain all these communi¬
cations, under the direct inspection of the officers of
the Government, so as to make them in every respect
equal to the best roads in the oldest settlements in
the province.
With respect to the important considerations of
climate and soil in the Huron Tract, there is every
reason to believe them as the best in Upper Canada;
though the district is for the most part level, it is in
some places considerably elevated above the Lakes. On
the borders of the Detroit and Lake St. Clair there
are extensive Priaries, some of which are overflowed
at certain seasons, and some years more than others,
owing to the periodical rise of the great Lakes which
are said to ebb and flow every seven years.
These Priaries, although not all fit for cultivation,
produce great quantities of wild grass, of which those
who live in their vicinity avail themseves to raise large
herds of cattle, but with little expense and trouble.
Every species of grain is cultivated in the province
in the greatest abundance, yielding with very ordi¬
nary tillage and without manure, from twenty to
twenty-five bushels of wheat to the acre, and in some
places, with but little more care, from forty to fifty
bushels. It is particularly favorable to the growth
of Indian corn or maize and tobacco, which latter is
of the best quality, and bids fair to rival that of Vir¬
ginia, and to become a staple. It is very productive,
yielding, with proper care, l,0001bs. and sometimes
more, per acre. Its culture is particularly well
adapted to persons possessing small pieces of land,
and having large families of young children, who can
attend it with more ease than grown persons, at
certain stages of its growth. Hemp and hops grow
spontaneously, and the former will probably, at some
distant period, become an article of considerable
export.
A Surveyor who has been employed to lay out the
line of road through the heart of the tract, says,
“ the quality of the soil through the whole thirty-
20
“ three miles, is such, that I have not seen its equal
“ in the province ; the soil is generally composed of
“ a deep, rich, black loam, thinly timbered. l or the
“ purpose of the intended road, there is not one mile
“ in the whole distance otherwise than favourable;
“ and there are four permanent streams, branches of
“ main rivers.”
The fertility of this territory, the mildness of its
climate, and the facility of purchasing property there,
point it out as peculiarly eligible.
I shall conclude this division of the subject with
the reports of some intelligent and most respectable
persons, who not long ago visited the Huron Ter¬
ritory, and thus express themselves as to its soil and
climate:
In regard to the Soil, the most unqualified praise
is given by all the exploring party without exception.
One of the gentlemen states, “ I have already adverted
“ to the nature and fertility of the soil, and I think 1
“ may be justified in adding, that such is the general
w excellence of the land, that if ordinary care be taken
“ to give each lot no more than its own share of any
“ small swamp in its vicinity, it would be difficult, if not
“ impossible, to find 200 acres together in the whole
“territory which would make a bad farm. Although
“ the land may be capable of raising any kind of pro*
“ duce usual in that country, yet some spots are more
“ peculiarly advantageous for particular crops. For
“ instance, the black ash swales (a kind of swamp)
“ make the best ground for hemp, as, by the scourg-
“ ing effect of two or three crops of it, the ground
“ will be made more fit for the raising of wheat, for
“ which in the original state it is too strong. The
“ rich meadows by the side of the rivers, more es-
“ pecially such as are annually overflowed, are ready,
“ without further preparation, for tobacco, hemp, and
“ flax. I he lower meadows, and meadows adjoining
“ to Beaver dams, which are abundant, produce at
“ this moment enormous quantities of natural hay
“ and pasture ; and the rest of the land, for the pro-
“ duction of potatoes, Indian corn, wheat, and other
“ grain, is at least equal, if not superior, to any
“other land in the Canadas. Independent of the
“ swamps, the timber on the land is very soon des-
“ cribed. The sugar maple is the principle growth,
“ an(1 size and height which it, as w ell as the other
“ trees attain, sufficiently evince the strength and
“ power of the soil; next to this come the beech, elm,
“ and bassw'ood, in various proportions: in some in-
“ stances the beech and elm predominate over the
“ ma ple, but this is rare. Near the streams the
“ hemlock * is found, and interspersed through the
“ whole is the cherry, butternut, the different species
“ of oak, and the birch.”
Another gentleman states, “ As far as I have ex-
“ plored the territory, and as far as I could learn
“from the different other explorings, 1 have to say,
“ *ay impression is, that there is not a better tract of
“land, if there is any equal, of the same exent, in
“ the Province of Upper Canada. It is abundantly
“ watered with a variety of streams, which are not
“ like the slow-moving, dull, stagnant ones, in some
“ other parts of the Province, but are swift, and in
“.some places rapid, which will tend greatly to the
“ salubrity of the climate, as well as to the other in¬
valuable benefits, when the land becomes settled,
“ from their being suitable for hydraulic purposes. The
“ soil is always judged of by the timber that grows
“ upon it ; when that consists of maple, beech, bass-
“ wood, and cherry, the land is considered very good ;
“ but if the maple and basswood, are the most pre-
“ vailing, it is considered of superior quality.”
A third says, “In passing through the country I
“have found the timber (naming that first of which
“ there is the greatest quantity, and the rest in the
“ same order,) to be maple, elm, beech, and basswood.
“ There are others in less quantity, viz. hemlock,
* The Hemlock is a species of pine, growing generally in
moist or swampy situations, and on soil of inferior quality.
“ butternut, black ash, white ash, soft maple, white
“ oak, hickory, and pine. The soil in general is a
“ black loam, sometimes with a proportion of sand, the
“ subsoil, clay with a mixture of sand; there are very
u few stones, except in the beds of rivers and creeks,
“ and that principally limestone. The banks along
“ the shore of the Lake have rather a forbidden ap-
“ pearance %vhen viewed from the water, being clo-
«tiled with cedar and hemlock to their bases; but
“ as soon as you arrive at the summit of their slopes,
“ the good land, clothed with the hard timber before
“ mentioned, makes its appearance. In scaling the
“ shore, we took opportunities of going into the inte-
“ rior, and in all cases found the land good.”
Mr. Ferguson, the latest visitor of all those who
have published their observations, thus remarks :—
«1 was much impressed with a favourable opinion of
“ the great Huron Tract, from the fact that many
“ steady Dutch settlers, in the possession of old pro-
“ ductive farms near York, were at the period of my
“visit, disposing of their property and removing to Go-
“ derich, a change which the calculating Dutchman,
“ would not have rashly adopted, without pretty rea-
“ sonable prospects of bettering himself to a consi-
« dcrable amount. The Township of Goderich con-
“ tains about 400 inhabitants already, and several
“ Dutch families from the neighbourhood of York,
“ have sold, or are endeavouring to sell, their culti-
“ vated and valuable farms, and have purchased lands
“ from the Company, in the Huron Tract; about 6000
“ acres have been sold to them in the neighbourhood
“ of Goderich, within the last six months. In Guelph,
“ a very valuable mill has lately been erected, and
“ one in Goderich is now in progress.”
The. Natives .— The Productions of Upper Canada , animal ,
vegetable, and mineral .
The natives (by which I mean the descendants of
the original natives) are a very harmless and gentle
race. Their quarrels resemble those of our women
when tempted by violent temper (which is however a
wonderfully rare quality in womankind) to attack each
other—they scratch—so do the native Americans,
who have no notion of fisty cuffs. They love a ram¬
bling and unsettled life, and trust to gun, spear, and
net, for their means of living. They are wonderfully
dexterous in the use of the bow and arrow—can hit
a mark with great precision, and frequently obtain
game in that way, when unprovided with fowling
piece and ammunition; indeed their permanent possess-
on of these, or of any thing valuable, is uncertain, their
love ot rum and whiskey being so excessive that they
barter every thing for those pernicious stimulants:
the present enjoyment is every thing to them, so
much so that they often prefer a glass of spirits to a
dollar, if that dollar could not be exchanged on the
spot, for drams, or other intoxicating draughts. They
are of rather prepossessing features, though somewhat
of the broadest, their eyes of gentle expression, and
their manners grave; an inoffensive people if kindly
treated, frequently bringing presents of fruit, game,
and fish, perhaps in the hope of some whiskey in re¬
turn ; and if at any time they have received food
when hungry, or have been treated with kindness and
any other proofs of hospitality, they are very grate¬
ful. It is no uncommon thing for an Indian to bring
a red deer, salmon, or trout, to the settler who has
given him a dinner, a glass of spirits, powder or shot,
or any other matter which he may have wanted.
But grateful as he is for kindness, he will resent
an injury, real or imagined: policy therefore, as well
as humanity, should always secure for him obliging
24
treatment from his happier, or at least more civilized,
fellow-creature.
They are active, well formed people, and would,
from their habits of exercise, be probably long- lived,
but that the use of spirits, is making dreadful havoc
among them.
Their dress consists of a blanket fastened with a
skewer, a pair of things (called Mocassins) of pliable
leather, instead of shoes, made to fit closely to the
foot like a stocking, with a piece of cloth from these
Mocassins to the ankle, stitched on, as these are not
removed so long as they can hold together. Their
habits are often abstemious, but only so from neces¬
sity, for though they can bear hunger for a long time
■without complaining, they will eat voraciously when
ever they can, and get drunk on every favourable
opportunity. Now if such creatures as these, hating
labour and loving idleness, can obtain subsistence
from the woods and rivers, in his hours of sport, it is
very clear that an industrious settler, even in the re¬
motest wilds, where fish and game are abundant—
where every vegetable that he sows or plants will
yield its increase, should live comfortably and well;
his habits of prospective prudence must at all seasons
insure him in the remotest solitudes, the supplies of
life, which are too frequently unattainable by the
utmost efforts of industry in our crowded towns and
agricultural districts.
The wives of these men are called Squaws, and the
children Papooses. The little urchins are treated in
their infancy in such a way as to give the least possi¬
ble trouble to their parents; soon after their birth
they are strapped in small frames by day, on their
backs, and hung upon a tree, a hook, or the mamma s
back, according to circumstances; they are so strapped
up as to be out of all danger; poor little things, it is
certainly better to have them in their very early days
safely cased in this way, nothing but
“ A pretty little nose,”
“ And nice little toes,”
25
peeping out from the case, than to have pins sticking
in their clothes, ami often in their bodies, as with us,
while the little unsteady and yielding necks are unable
to carry the top-heavy heads; besides, the carriage
of a child must be better formed by lying fairly on its
back until the spine acquires some degree of strength
and form, than by being tossed and shaken about by
an awkward nurse, every five minutes, during its
waking hours. Positively, Mrs. Doyle must try this
North American plan with the next boy (I dont
interfere about the girls, why should I?) which she
may happen to have.
Captain Hall gives the following description of a
settlement of the tribe of Mississaguas, on the river
Credit, which runs into Lake Ontario on the northern
side, and not far from its western extremity.
“ Till within the last three or four years, these
Indians were known in that part of Canada as the
most profligate, drunken, and, it was supposed, irre¬
claimable of savages. Such indeed was their state of
wretchedness, that the total and speedy extinction of
the whole tribe seemed inevitable. All this was at¬
tributed to other causes than poverty; for the annual
distribution of goods to the tribe, either as a bounty
from the crown, or as a consideration for lands which
they had ceded, was most ample; whilst their neigh¬
bourhood to populous settlements insured them a
ready market for their game or fish, if they had been
industriously disposed. They owned also a fine tract
of land reserved for their exclusive use. But it seems
they were lost in a state of continual intoxication,
brought on by drinking the vilest kind of spirits,
obtained by bartering the clothes, and other articles
annually served out to them by Government.
“ Such a state of things of course attracted much
attention, and many plans were suggested for amelio¬
rating their condition ; but none succeeded in re^
claiming these miserable objects, till about three or
four years ago, Sir Perigrine Maitland, then Governor
26
of Upper Canada, conceived the idea of domesticating
these Indians on the banks of the river Credit. The
ground accordingly was soon cleared, commodious
houses were built, and implements of husbandry,
clothes, and other things, given to the new settlers.
These wretched people were induced to take these
chiefly by the influence of a missionary named Jones ;
he had acquired a considerable degree of influence
amongst the tribe in question; and his own virtuous
effort being opportunely seconded by the Government,
the result, as far as we could judge, was wonderful.
“ From living more like hogs than men, these
Mississaguas had acquired, when we saw them, many
domestic habits. They had all neat houses, made use
of beds, tables, and chairs, and were perfectly clean
in their persons, instead of being plastered over with
paint and grease. They w’ere also tolerably well
dressed, and were described as being industrious,
orderly, and above all, sober. Most of the children,
and a few of the older Indians could read English ;
facts which we ascertained by visiting their school,
and I have seldom seen any thing more curious. The
whole tribe profess Christianity, attend divine service
regularly, and what is still more to the purpose, their
conduct is said to be in character with their profession.
Instead of hunting and Ashing for a precarious liveli¬
hood, they now cultivate the ground; and in place of
galloping off to the whiskey shop with their earnings,
lay them by to purchase comforts, and to educate and
clothe their children; such, at least, were the ac¬
counts given to us.
“ We examined the village minutely, and had some
conversation with the Schoolmaster, a brother of Mr.
Jones, the person to whose exertions so much of the
success of this experiment is due. The number of
Indians at the Credit village is only 215; but the
great point gained, is, the fact of reformation being
possible. The same feelings and disposition to im¬
prove, are extending rapidly, I am told, amongst the
other tribes connected with the Mississaguas, and
chiefly amongst the Chippewas of Lake Simcoe and
those of the Rice Lake.”
When hunger compels, or a love of sport stimu¬
lates him, the American Indian can undergo a vast
deal of patient labour; when the rivers or lakes are
frozen, lie will sit, enveloped in a buffalo skin, the
whole length of a day, over a hole which he himself
has broken, catching fish, with a bit of red rag by
way of bait to his hook. His sagacity appears in de¬
termining his course through the woods by the tex¬
ture of the bark, in a way inexplicable to those less
experienced ; the bark varies in smoothness by almost
imperceptible degrees, according to the points of the
compass, and by these marks the untaught Indian
threads his way through the mazes of the unfre¬
quented woods as correctly as if guided by the com¬
pass of the mariner.
The old settlers are extremely hospitable^and
obliging; the wandering stranger is s\u:e 4 ^^ ri^onie
and accommodation for the night, eitheiTffSong the
higher or lower classes of settlers; he is certain ot
admission into the large farm house, or of a nook in
the already crowded family room of the little log
house ; every person already settled, seems to remem¬
ber that he had his own day of difficulty to encounter
and feels a sympathy for the necessities of the new
comer; in short, the exercise of hospitality is considered
a sacred duty, which no one neglects—the circumstan¬
ces and necessities of the country require it, and even
the houseless wanderer can communicate, in exchange
for the food and lodging he obtains, a valuable return
in news from the mother country, if he be lately from
it, or from the remoter townships with which there
can be but little direct and personal intercourse.
And who, except one who has been long a stranger
to home and his friends, can adequately conceive the
joy experienced on seeing, in a foreign land, the face
of a countryman, perhaps of a townsman, a fellow
citizen, one familiar with persons and places, dear to
28
the recollection of the Emigrant; suppose him to
bring with him a letter , from some family connection
—every eye strained with eagerness—all work sus¬
pended—every heart beating with anxiety—it is pre¬
sented—the superscription examined—the seal broken
—but, alas, the person to whom it is addressed, either
from the crabbed hand, or from a gentle suffusion of
the tearful eye, or from not being in the habit of read¬
ing writing , or perhaps from never having been
taught (shame to deficient education) to read at all,
is obliged to call in a neighbour’s aid to decypher the
welcome lines—they are read over so frequently that
the ear devours, what the eye refused, and the de¬
lighted memory records, and retains the minutest
passage for ever! The bearer of this joyful epistle,
is as joyfully received, and treated with every kind¬
ness, and questioned as to every point to which it
refers, and many others, on which expatiating from
local knowledge, he is cherished for his information,
set forward in his object of settlement, and saved
much of the inconvenience which a total stranger
must probably undergo.
There are various colonists in Upper Canada—
English, Irish, Scotch, a few German and Dutch, and
Americans from the States—but the British vastly
preponderate. Those from Holland are a most
thriving people, in Upper Canada; they have capital
houses, barns, cattle, and implements of husbandry,
and are wonderfully neat and clean in their habits.
Mr. Pickering mentions having been in the farm house
ot a Dutchman who had purchased a farm of 200 acres
for 800 dollars, at 4s. 6d. each, which he had accumu¬
lated by the sale of the skins of Musk rats, at half
a dollar each.—The English are the next in point
of comfort and neatness, the lowland Scotch coming
next to them—and then the Irish, and Scotch High¬
landers who are pretty much on a par in many parti¬
culars.—It is said that too many of my countrymen
are fonder of company keeping, and frolicking , than
is consistent with economy and protit. The testimony
23
\
on this point is unhappily very strong, from various
sources ; the habits of imprudence, of apathy, which
former hopelessness and constant distress perhaps
have caused, are long continued, and it is not to he
expected that those who have never experienced the
decencies of life (I speak of the lowest class of Irish
labourers and small farmers) should suddenly acquire
tastes and habits totally unknown to them. In proof
of this, it is said, that the settlement of Scotch High¬
landers in the township of Glengarry, though a moral
colony, have not, shown the evidences of a thriving
and neat people, because their habits were of a ram¬
bling kind. They, like the Irish, never were a steady
industrious set at home: an intermixture with the
lowland Scotch who are an educated people, and the
English, who are like them, industrious and orderly,
would be of great advantage to all parties. A cross
in the breeds—English, Irish, and Scotch—would, I
think, be very desirable. Each nation has some
admirable qualities—each also has faults—if their
dispositions and habits be blended together, we shall
have an improved character.
Captain Hall, who visited a Colony of “ 2024
settlers, sent out by government in 1S25, to a part of
Upper Canada called Peterborough, at an expense of
£21. 5s. 4d. a head—each family being supplied with
provisions for fifteen months and a hundred acres of
land, besides minor aids,” says, “ The emigrants were
scattered over such an extensive district of country,
that l found it impossible to visit them all; but I en¬
deavoured by riding from place to place, and calling
upon the people without warning, to acquire a gene¬
ral conception of what was going on.” It was curious
to observe, that most of these settlers, however
destitute they may notoriously have been in Ireland,
always contrived to evade any acknowledgment of
this fact, when direct questions were put to them,
and seemed rather to wish I should believe they had
been very well off at home. Put with a degree of
30
inconsistency, creditable enough by the way, they
yere invariably thrown off their guard when asked
m plain terms, whether or not they were sensible of
the kindness shown them? Upon these occasions
they spoke in the strongest terms of gratitude of what
had been done for them by Government ; and often
quite iorgetting their formal disavowals, described
with characteristic animation the transition from
their past situation to their present happy condition.
hat I thought very odd, no complaints ever met
my ear of any omissions on the part of Government-
on the contrary, they told me that everv want had
been attended to.
i^ven to the value of that gimlet/’ said one of the
settlers to me, “ we are obligated to the king—God
> ess him * and we shall bring up our children to know
what has been done for us and for them, and to be
oyal subjects of his majesty whatever happens, like
as we ourselves are, and good reason too, for we
have been taken from misery and want, and put into
independence and happiness.
“ l'or a long time lie eluded all my interrogatories
with great address. He could not."say whether or
not he were better off now, than he had been at home,
lough he admitted that here he was master of a
targe free property, and in Ireland he had only a
hu m, the rent of which by his own confession, he had
never been able to pay.
“ Would you like then,” I asked, “ to be put down
in Ireland again, Mr. Cornelius, just as you were.
“ I would, Sir.
“ Then why don’t you go ? Who hinders you ?
because of the boys, Sir.
“ What of the boys? I asked.
“°> its i' ecause my two sons like this country very
well, they have chopped twenty acres of land, and we
have got crops of wheat and oats, and Indian corn
and potatoes, and some turnips, all coming up and
a most ready to cut, besides five or six more acres
chopped and logged, and soon to be in cultivation,
and the boys like their independence. In short, Sir,
it’s a fine country for a poor man, if he be industrious,
and, were it not for the ague, a good country, and a
rich one, though to be sure it is rather out of the
way, and the roads are bad and winter very cold;
yet there is always plenty to eat and sure employment,
and good pay for them that like to work.
“ The universal satisfaction expressed by these
people is creditable to the statesman—I believe Mr.
Wilmot Horton—who devised the experiment—to
Mr. Peter Robinson, by whose skill and patience it
was carried through its many difficulties;—and also
to the good sense, moderation, and industry of the
poor emigrants themselves, who, though raised from
the lowest degree of dependence, and almost of starva¬
tion, showed that they had sufficient strength of mjnd
to bear prosperity with steadiness, and feeling enough
to acknowledge, without reserve, to whose bounty
they stood so deeply indebted.
“ It was two o’clock before we reached the clearing,
as it is called, of one of the most active of all the
emigrants, of 1825. He was not at home, but his
wife did the honors of her Shanty or Log Hut, with
much of that affability and genuine good breeding
which belong to the Irish. She introduced her three
eldest sons to me—lads of twenty, eighteen, and six¬
teen years of age; besides a great fry of young ones,
boys and girls, in all, eleven. From November lb25,
to this period July 1827, they had cleared, I think,
twenty-six acres of land, most of which were under
rich cultivation.
“ The size of the Log Huts or Shanties, put up at
the expense of Government, may be conceived ■when
I mention, that two men accustomed to the axe, can
manage to cut down the trees, prepare the logs, put
them up, roof the house, and complete the whole
establishment in two days. I should say the dimen¬
sions of this particular dwelling were twenty feet
long by twelve wide, and Seven feet high. 1 he roof
was formed of logs split into four lengths, then
32
hollowed out, and laid with the concave and the
convex sides alternately upwards and downwards, so
f.U° 111 T T ther > like lon S tiles sloping
om the ridge to the eaves, so that each alternate
Jo loaned a gutter or channel to carry off the rain.
Ihe openings between the logs forming the walls
were closed by mud and mos3 mixed together; and
sometimes these shanties had a window, sometimes
“Unless I could put down the exact words used
by this good lady herself and her family, I?should
convey no just idea of the extent of their g.-atit,ide
for the advantages they had received. It was not
possible, she said, to express how entirely satisfied
they were with their present lot, or how completely
SET* lad P ro /! ded ^ all their want's, and
enabled them to start fair in this new world. I tried bv
various questions to get her to make complaints, and
to say they stood in need of something, but I could
not elicit a single dissatisfied expression.
I found a hardy fellow, who had come to the
spot only m May, or little more than two months
before ; in this short interval with some slight assist!
burne. ?• ^ ch ° Pped ’ lo ^ ed ’ and bonded or
urned timber on seven acres of land which were
now mostly sown with wheat and Indian corn. This
man had accompanied the other settlers in 1825, but
having no money, not even a single dollar, he had
Peterbor" ' ' “ft® 0 ° f a ^ntlfman settled near
Peterborough, and by saving his wages, was enabled,
at the end of a year and a half, to establish himself
to gieater advantage on the lot granted him by
Government, than he could possibly have done at
“ PcthPat and his wife, as well as their children,
told me they were delighted with their new situa’
tion, though every one had been ill with the ae-tie
and more than half of them had it still. Indeed I
do not think we entered a single house, in 0 . near
Petei borough, where some members of the family
were not suffering- under this ferreting, though sel¬
dom fatal complaint. But what is curious enough,
it was confined very much to recent settlers, while
on the older establishments, similarly circumstanced
as to soil and situation, the sickness was not only
less but was gradually wearing out.
“ The settler to whom I was now speaking, in all
the pride of territorial possession, entreated me to
walk over his grounds. In the course of our progress
through the uncleared part of his domain, we came
upon one of the most magnificent oaks, I think I
ever beheld. I stood for some time admiring it, and
thinking what a pity it was that such a glorious tree
should be felled to the earth ; and still more, that it.
should afterwards be chopped up, and burned along
with vulgar pine logs, instead of being converted
into frame timbers and into breast hooks for a first
rate ship of war, its true destiny, if doomed to the
axe. ‘ I wish very much,’ said I to the owner, ‘that
for my sake you would spare this grand oak ?’
‘O, that I will, your honour, I’ll spare twenty of
them if you have a mind, only point them out to
me, Sir.’
* No, no, I want only this one.’
‘Very well, Sir, very well, it shall be yours from
this moment; and if you will give me leave, it shall
bear your name, and a fence shall be put round it,
and while I have breath in my body, there it shall
stand, you may be sure, and even after me, if my
children will respect their father’s wishes.—Do you
hear that boys ?’
“ I have since received a letter from a friend in
that quarter of the world, in which the following
passage occurs:
“ I have been over to see the good folks at Peter¬
borough and Douro, since you left us ; your visit
there, with Mrs. Hall, is held in the most pleasing
recollection; and Welsh, the Irish emigrant, vows
eternal vengeance against any one that shall dare to
do the least injury to Captain Hall’s oak.”
34
The North American Horses are very hardy ; they
are often taken little care of, and badly housed on
the frequent journeys which they are forced to make
with the sleigh ; they are fed with the coarsest hay,
and littered down with the boughs of the spruce and
hemlock fir. The tender branches of these are also
used with salt as winter food for cows, which feed
well upon this provender.
Two horses abreast, called in the Canadian phrase¬
ology a span of horses, will travel from forty to fifty
miles a day stopping to bait every ten or twelve
miles; when the snow makes good roads, the Cana¬
dians travel about a great deal very comfortably in
the sleighs covered up with furs, and every kind of
warm clothing. Farmers generally carry their own
oats and hay, for these are indispensable in ranging
through the newly opened townships, where settlers
and tavern keepers are not to be often met with.
These horses cost from £10 to £20 each.
Oxen are very much used in all farming operations,
removing trees, ploughing, harrowing, carting, & c.;
a pair of these may be estimated, if broken in, at
£10 or £15, and an unbroken pair at about £8;
these, as well as cows, feed in winter on the boughs
of the spruce and hemlock firs, which being given
through the winter, are a never failing supply of
forage.
Sheep do not answer in the woods, but after three
years you can have pasture land for their summer,
and Swedish turnips and pumpkins for their winter
keep; they may be rated at 5s. 6d. sterling each, as
stock; they should be penned up at night in the new
settlements, lest wolves should attack them—but
this precaution is not taken in the old cleared lands,
from which those beasts of prey keep a respectful
distance, and indeed in general the Canadian wolves
are not ferocious in disposition—they avoid mankind;
if you let them alone, they will let you alone; the
settlers do not fear them, and in the course of a few
years more, as improvement of land and population
35
increase, they will disappear altogether, and he as
unknown there as they now are in the British Isles,
where history tells us they formerly appeared in great
numbers.* Wool is highly valuable to the Colonist,
who can have it carded for two or three pence a lb.
if he have a wife or daughters, he has it of course
spun at home in the long winter nights, and if he
have no money, he gets it woven, by giving part of
the cloth a large share by the bye—to the weaver
for his labour.
Hogs are an excellent stock to keep in Canada,
for they can roam and fatten in the woods, where
nuts and acorns are abundant. Mr. Pickering very
judiciously recommends the Berkshire breed, as the
most thriving when left to shift for themselves, and
he also suggests the expediency of introducing the
Leicester breed of sheep; but cattle of all kinds will
be improved in their respective breeds, before a long
time shall have passed, as they have agricultural
societies in Lower Canada, and it is to be supposed,
and hoped, that similar societies will be formed in
the Upper Province, which will tend to introduce
every variety of useful stock. Store pigs may be
purchased at 4s. Gd. each, and breeding sows at about
15s. each.
Deer may be shot in the woods, and few settlers
will feel the want of a bit of fresh meat for the pot,
if they can use a gun, or possess a little money or
whiskey to give in exchange for venison to the
natives. Hares and Rabbits also are in abundance,
nor is the Buffalo to be omitted.
howls also of all kinds, wild and tame, abound.
Of the wild, Partridges are the most easily procured;
of these there are two species—the Birch partridge"
and the Spruce; the former kind is larger than ours,
and of delicately white flesh : the Spruce (so called
from its having the taste of the spruce fir) is smaller
* bor every Wolf’s Scalp produced to a magistrate, a pre¬
mium of it. 10s. or 21, is paid.
and darker coloured ; both these kinds are so tame as
to be easily killed—they perch upon the trees, whicn
they will not desert, though their companions be
shot around them, provided that care be taken to
kill the lower birds first, shooting them in regular
gradation upwards. There are also Quails and
Grouse.
Wild Pigeons , are in great numbers; about April
they come in large flocks, and are shot in thousands
—no fines for shooting them; every one may help
himself without scruple or interference with the pro¬
perty of another. W ild geese, turkeys, and ducks,
when they come to their haunts, afford profitable
sport. The settlers shoot them on the banks of
lakes or rivers (where I have recommended you to
purchase your lots) from ambuscades in which they
watch for the water fowl, and are often rewarded
with a great fall; cold work this, however—fur caps,
buffalo cloaks, very warm stockings, and mittens,
are indispensable, as it would be no joke to purchase
the sport, or the food, at the loss of a frost bitten
nose, or fingers. Aquatic fowl are particularly nu¬
merous at Rice Lake; and in the marshy grounds,
the sportsman finds Snipes and Woodcocks.
Fish of every variety is to be had. Salmon of
fine size are frequently caught, with a rod or a seine;
a man on the banks of a lake or river can, almost
always, have a luxurious dish for his table. And if
he does not know how to cook it, let him learn from
the practice of dear sweet beautiful Killarney, thus ;
take your Salmon fresh out of the water, and cut it
into junks of an inch in thickness, have as many
peeled rods as you have pieces of Salmon, stuck into
the ground, and sharpened at the top; put a slice on
each, forming a circular line of upright spits. Pre¬
pare beforehand a fire of dry brush wood ; set fire to
it, and keep turning your junks as you go round, by
turning these rod-spits; in about fifteen minutes and
as many turns, your fish will be perfectly roasted,
Black and white Bass , Sturgeon , Trout , Pickerel.
Mashimonge , Cod-fish , are also plentiful. Great
quantities are caught in the spring and autumn, es¬
pecially at the latter season, when white fish are
taken in such numbers that, besides what is used for
home consumption, many thousand barrels are salted
and shipped every year for different sections of the
United States, where they are in great demand.
This fish is delicious when fresh, and salted is a most
palatable and wholesome food, so that most families
in the country lay in a winter stock, particularly the
Roman Catholics, who use them in Lent, and on
other fish days.
Besides the net, and rod, (but who would spare
his valuable time to trifle with the latter w r hen he
may more profitably take his prey by wholesale with
the former?) spearing fish is very common; it is
executed in the following way, at night: the fisher¬
man goes into a light canoe, which may be bought
from a native for a few shillings, and takes torches
with him made of the birch bark, rolled up in folds,
three or four deep—one of these pieces of bark he
inserts in the top of a pole split up, just far enough
to keep hold of the birch—he then stands at the head
of the boat leaning over and looking into the bottom
of the water, while a companion gently paddles the
boat forward; he must be cautious, steady, and
active—cautious, lest he should fright the fish—
steady, to avoid tumbling over head and heels into
the water—and active as well as practised to spear
the fish, or to follow him along if the light should
startle him. The natives catch a great deal of fish
in this way; their wives, perhaps, with the incum¬
brance too of a Papoose , work the canoes, and
thus obtain a needful supply of food—salmon,* trout,
and carp, are thus taken.
It is curious to see an inexperienced person trying
•I know that 1100 salmon have been speared in one
night, and perhaps as many more wounded and left to die in
agonies,—This is a horrible mode of fishing.
38
to spear a fish at the bottom of deep water; not
allowing- for the refraction of the rays of light, he
strikes at the fish where he thinks it is, and finds his
spear perhaps a foot or two before or behind it, and
when pulling up the spear by its long handle he is
jerked in, over head and ears, where, if he cannot
swim, he may very shortly go to the bottom. If
any of you make this experiment in deep water, take
the precaution of leaving the wife at home, in charge
of the bairns in case of your going down, else you
may in your struggles carry the poor woman with
you, and then who would take care of the children ?
And never go to fish till you have every thing ne¬
cessary provided, or you may be as far from bringing
home a salmon as the Garryowen boy on the bridge
of Limerick, who, lounging over the battlement and
spying a large fish immediately below him, observed
to his companion, “ Ov I had a boat I would gaff
that salmon, only that I have no gaff.”
Where salmon are abundant, it is of course
desirable to preserve them for winter food, either by
pickling or smoking them—a good supply of cured
fish, with the accompaniments of geese and turkeys,
and fowls, (wild and tame), venison, beef, &c. hung
up during the frost, is a cheering prospect to the
poor settlers in the winter months, and all these lux¬
uries and comforts he can easily have.—The usual
mode is to kill fat deer, sheep, and fowls, at the
commencement of the frost, in those districts where
its long continuance is certain, and to expose them
to be frozen for anight; they will then, in this con¬
gealed state, keep fresh during the whole winter. A
double purpose is obtained by this plan—the animals
are killed before they lose their condition, and the
food which they would otherwise consume during
the winter, is saved.
The Animals which exist in North America, not
used for food, are Foxes , Wolves ,, Bears , and
Beavers .
Of Insects , Fire-flies are the most beautiful. In
the summer season they glitter in swarms upon the
houghs of trees, and hanging over the waters’ edge,
present after sunset an inexpressibly brilliant appear¬
ance. A most agreeable and correct writer, treating
of the vivid beauty of the sky and stars in that cli¬
mate, thus introduces the luminous effect produced
by the Fireflies.
“ Hosts of other luminaries of lesser magnitude
Hung each its particular shaft of splendor on the
tranquil and shadowy sea. As I gazed, the air burst
into atoms of green fire before my face, and in an
instant they were gone; I turned round, and saw all
the woods upon the mountains illuminated with ten
thousands of flaming torches moving in every direc¬
tion, now rising, now falling, vanishing here, re-ap¬
pearing there, converging to a globe, and dispersing
in spangles. No man can conceive from dry descrip¬
tion alone, the magical beauty of these glorious crea¬
tures ; so far from their effects having been exagge¬
rated by travellers, I can say that I never read an
account in prose or verse, which in the least prepared
me for the reality.’*
Mosquitoes are certainly confoundedly troublesome,
in the uncleared districts and swampy places, but not
in the cleared grounds. The Snakes , which are met
with in great numbers are quite harmless; there are
no noxious reptiles in Canada . A friend of mine has
informed me that he once, when on horseback, saw
a snake three feet long, with an enormous head,
gliding from under his horse, with a toad three times
the diameter of his own body, sticking in his jaws,
which were extended prodigiously; the toad having
slipped about twelve inches down the snake’s throat,
with its legs stretched out at each side of the mouth;
he dismounted, brought the two animals home, and
in about fifteen minutes the toad was sucked down
completely, to the great relief of both parties— I mean
the snake and the toad .—A snake often catches a
great bull frog, which, as may be supposed, makes
(
40
no trifling uproar while travelling clown the reptile's
throat.
Frogs give regular concerts in the summer even¬
ings, and in every variety of note ; they are some¬
times joined in their musical entertainments by the
little birds called 4 Whip poor Will/ (from the re¬
semblance of his note to these words,) and by other
musical animals; nor is the chirping of the cricket,
which finely harmonizes with the hoarse croaking of
the bull frog to be omitted ; in short, you must be
hard to be pleased if such varied music does not
please you. I had nearly omitted the Musquash, a
kind of water rat, which is a useful little animal, its
lur being used as felt of a coarse kind, for winter
hats. In the woods are many Squim'els and Racoons ,
which if they are not useful, are at least perfectly
inoffensive to mankind.
Bets thrive and multiply fast in Upper Canada,
and honey (and of course metheglin may be had in
abundance, by taking ordinary care of them.
The Humming Bird, which resembles a Bee in
sound and flight, is also to be seen there.
The chief Vegetable Productions—Trees, Corn , and Fruit .
The Trees are of almost every description, and
present towards the end of summer a most luxuriant
foliage; the flats in many places are occupied by the
deciduous kinds, whose leaves in their decay, assum¬
ing every hue from brilliant scarlet and bright yellow
to orange and dark brown, contrast their varied tints
with the deep green of the pines, and produce an
effect unequalled by anything we see in the old
country.
This splendid variety of foliage indicates a variety
of timber, and a variety of soil. The chief kinds of
timber are the oak, ash, cedar, chesnut, beech,
41
birch, willow, poplar, weeping elm, maple, hiccory,
sycamore, white cherry, and black walnut, which
last being comparatively scarce, and with the butter¬
nut, useful for furniture, should not be destroyed in
clearing, neither should the maple, of which the Ca¬
nadians make an important use. From this tree, su¬
gar is extracted, which is very easily managed for
domestic purposes, and even for sale, at 3£d. per lb.
The method of producing it, is by making an inci¬
sion or notch in the tree, about an inch and a half
deep by two inches wide, from which the sap, of a
saccharine nature, runs off into small troughs, and
from them is put into boilers on a slow tire: the
longer this gradual boiling is continued, the more
refined will be the sugar. When finished, it is
poured into pots, and when cooled, is harder than
lump sugar. The skimmings make excellent mo¬
lasses ; a well sized tree will yield, at an average,
Clbs. of sugar without being exhausted, and will
continue to do so annually. Those useful trees
abound in Canada where some persons make from 10
to 20cwt. in a season.
Here also are the balm of gilead tree, the hem¬
lock-pine, the juniper, and various other evergreens
in abundance.
The tulip tree, which grows to an immense size,
is considered excellent for outward boarding, taking
paint particularly well, and, as it never blazes when
burning, is less likely to cause accident by fire. The
white oak and yellow pine are the trees most prized
for making frame houses. The oak, ash, maple,
beech, and hiccory, point out the best soil; that of
sandy quality produces pine, hemlock, and tulip;
generally the strength and excellence of the different
qualities of land are indicated by the growth and vi¬
gour of the trees they bear. The timber of the
western townships on the shores of the lakes, is of a
superior quality, and will be valuable to the colonists
for sale.
42
The Agricultural produce, consists of wheat, bar¬
ley, oats, rye, Indian corn, rice, peas, beans, pota¬
toes, turnips, cabbages, tobacco, vetches, clover (of
which there is little sown, though it thrives well)
and grasses, of which the timothy is the most
common.
The Fruits are of every description, and of exqui¬
site quality—pine apples raised without trouble,
melons and grapes growing wild in the woods;
peaches, nectarines, plums, apples, pears, cherries,
gooseberries, strawberries, currants, raspberries, wal¬
nuts, chesnuts, and filberts.
None who are blessed with health, unless most
thoughtless and improvident, can suffer distress in a
country so gifted in its natural productions.
Minerals — Manures.
Iron Mines have been found, and manufactories
for iron works are already established in many places.
Mr. Pickering states that “ iron ore is abundant and
good in various parts of the province, chiefly found
in swamps, or sandy land ; and forges and furnaces are
now so common that iron and cast-ware are plentiful
and moderately cheap ; wrought iron, which if well
made, is very tough and good, fetches its price, and
cast-iron for mill machinery is about 2^d. per lb.;
stoves, pots, kettles, &c. at an advance in proportion
to extra workmanship.”
Lead and Copjier have also been discovered ; and
Coals , though very unnecessary, may also be raised.
Limestone and Gypsum are abundant, in some places
the former is inexhaustible ; the latter is considered
a valuable manure, acting upon land as lime does,
and with great effect, but used in a lesser proportion.
On newly broken soil, abounding with vegetable
matter, these manures are most efficacious; but soils
w'orn out by constant tillage become more exhausted
from the use of calcareous stimulants, and in all
!*-
I*
eri*
ma
m
oofc
mis
orifi
m
and
ml
itii
irf
at
rtw
2i
‘i
cases, an overdose should be avoided. In America,
however, there is no danger at present of exhaustion,
or failure of vegetable matter.
Salt is abundant, and in no country is it more C9-
piously used. Every skilful cattle feeder in these
islands is aware of the value of salt, and uses it
with great effect; it is very agreeable to most animals,
promotes appetite, and preserves health. Whether
it is owing to the unrestrained use of salt by sheep
in America, or to the dryness of the climate, I can¬
not venture to pronounce, but the fact is that the
scab, which requires so much shepherding in these
countries, is unknown in Canada, where sheep and
hogs have access to it all times in their feeding places.
The use of it ought to be more general with us,
for experience proves its utility. I myself knew a
very extensive sheep farmer (whose herbage was
considered to generate flukes in the livers of his
sheep, which often proved fatal) to have saved his
sheep at last by the use of salt, which he continued
afterwards to give with uninterrupted success.
There are salt springs in various places, and these
are frequently visited by deer, who will travel a con¬
siderable distance for a “ lick,” thus pointing out the
propriety of giving salt to animals who would in¬
stinctively reject it, if it were not salutary to them.
In short, a Canadian would apprehend the loss of his
stock, were he too sparing of salt.
It is to be regretted that the want of capital, or
the more tempting investment of it in the purchase
of land, has hitherto acted as an obstacle to the ma¬
nufacture of salt from these springs. Salt is obtained
from the United States, and at a loss to the Canadian
much greater than if produced at his door. If salt
were cheaper and on the spot, the catching and curing
of lake fish, particularly a species of herring, like
the Loughneagh Pullen , which abounds in North
America, would more amply repay the fisherman for
his time and trouble.
u
44
Habitations — Employment—Preparation of the Soil—Mode
of Farming.
The first habitation which a settler thinks of, is
the log home —and this is very speedily erected.
Proceed in the following way :—After clearing the
underwood, (of which in some places there is but
little) with a peculiar kind of hook, like our billhook,
except that it has a long handle, gather it into a heap
and set fire to it, then cut down as many trees as
will answer your purpose ; these divide into lengths
from 14 to twenty feet, according to the size of your
family—square and dress them with an adze as well
as you can; then lay three of these pieces thus
morticed at the angles, on the ground, and raise
corresponding logs over them, fitted into each other
by notches previously cut, until your walls are 8
feet in height, building up the second gable at the
same time with stones, to prevent danger from the
fire, which is to be placed on a flagged portion of the
floor next to it; then fasten on your rafters for the
roof, which is to be covered with boards lapped over,
or if permanence be intended, with short pieces of
boards called shingles which are more easily renewed
than long pieces—you then cut out a door and win¬
dow ; the crevices in the walls, appealing between
the logs, are to be closed up with clay and moss,
then floor the house either with smooth boards or
rough ones, thrown across sleepers ; timber being too
abundant, and dryness essential to health and com¬
fort, a clay floor is never used in Canada. An oven
will be essential, especially in summer, w*hen the
beat would render the operation of baking inside the
house very disagreeable, and this is frequently made
of clay, and perhaps raised on the stump of a large
tree.
The Shantie differs but little from the log or block
house; it is roofed like a shed, on a small scale, and
was originally introduced by the woodsmen as a tem¬
porary shelter.
As the settler finds his circumstances improving,
he either enlarges his log house, or builds a good
frame house. A barn and other offices are succes¬
sively raised of square blocks of wood, and with a
rapidity which is quite surprising, the circumstances
and habits of the country providing assistance for
those in want of it.
The older colonists about you, if solicited will
come and help at what (from the bustle and activity
of the work,) is termed a Bee , they first dra\rthe
timber together with oxen, (provided that you have
it previously felled, cut into the proper lengths and
squared,) and raise up your house ; this kind of work
is called a raising Bee , and in the same way, as¬
sistance is mutually given in beating out the Indian
corn from its husks, in what is called a husking Bee
—the nature of the work always determining the
denomination of the Bee . v
• Such is the friendliness of the more established
settlers, that they will dispense with your giving them
breakfast and dinner, if your circumstances render
you really unable to provide them ; some whiskey, and
the evening* frolic are sufficient inducements for the
attendance of your neighbours, whose accommodating
mode of assisting each other, and of doing as they
would be done unto, is highly creditable to their
feelings. It will, however be expected, and very
fairly, that you will repay these acts of kindness
by giving labour in return, on similar occasions.
You should, if your means will permit, and that
you are handy enough to use them, take with you a
box of tools, I do not mean heavy and cumbrous ones,
but those which occupy but little room and are suited
to nice work. Cabinet-makers and carpenters w ill ot
course take out their chests of tools, but every one of
46
you should, on going* to the woods, be provided with
the following articles, such as the Government gave
in 1825 to the emigrants whom they sent out:
1 American axe, 1 Hammer,
1 Iron wedge,
3 Hoes,
1 Kettle,
1 Frying pan,
1 Iron pot, nails, and
1 Handsaw,
1 Auger,
1 Pick-axe,
1 Spade,
2 Gimlets,
a small portable Hand-mill for grinding corn;—a
gun, and fishing nets will be of great service if you
have moans to purchase them. You should also
have good warm frieze coats and jackets and worsted
stockings and mittens for the winter; linen trowsers
and jacket for the summer, as many linen shirts as
you can afford to take out, (linen being dear in Ca¬
nada,) and a short flannel shirt to be worn next the
skin, both in summer and winter. In the former
season, it will be found most comfortable, as it ab¬
sorbs perspiration ; without it, the linen shirt becom¬
ing wet, and cooling upon the body, is apt to give
cold and produce ague , the only complaint which the
settler need dread; and this, I am convinced, is usu¬
ally the effect of incaution, when heated, and of ex*
posure to the air at night, when damp fogs are not
{infrequent, but which disappear at sunrise, before
which time no prudent person should be out.
And here, it will not be out of place to give a few
simple Hints on the general subject of health:
In the newly surveyed western districts of the
Upper Province, to which you should press forward,
for the reasons already stated, physicians within
visiting distance, and Dispensaries, are as yet not to
be found. You should therefore provide yourselves
with such simple medicines as may preserve the
bowels from irregularity, by which many disorders,
proceeding from neglect of those important organs,
may be prevented; after the long voyage in particu¬
lar, medicine is necessary—many persons have bad
47
bilious fevers and agues from not making use of it,
and have attributed to the effects of climate their
want of health, which probably originated in their
ignorance of medicine, or their inattention to the use
of it.
As to furniture, a man who is possessed of any in¬
genuity can make, by degrees, what is most necessary,
and at the same time simple in its construction.—
The bark of the bass tree, woven or laced across his
bedstead, will support his mattrass, and that mattrass
need consist of nothing more expensive than the
boughs of the spruce fir, or dry beach leaves; a buf¬
falo skin will answer for quilt and blankets. Now a
man need not serve a seven years apprenticeship to
supply these matters.
When there is no out-of-door work, time may be
usefully occupied in the making of furniture.
A friend of mine, a gentleman too, unaccustomed
% to what is called labour, who took out three sons with
him, youths, who in this country had been in the
habit of practising at the Lathe, of making imple¬
ments, &c. found them invaluable to him in his
settlement near York—in a very short time they
made all the w'ooden furniture of his new frame house
—sofas, and tables of every kind, from a lady’s work
table, (with roped pillars of black walnut,) to the
kitchen table; chimney pieces, painted, polished, and
varnished; bedsteads, carts, waggons and wheelbar¬
rows—they were also equally expert at smith’s work,
and shod their own horses. They had taken out a
good box of tools with them, the use of which saved
them large sums of money, and when I last heard
from them they were putting up a frame-barn G5 feet
in length, 35 in breadth, and 20 feet in height, with
an ice-house under it, and a store house for roots, to
preserve them from frost.
I have already told you that abundance of employ¬
ment in agricultural labour awaits the poor emigrant
in Upper Canada, where he cannot fail to earn a
h
48
sufficiency of food and clothing, besides accumulating
capital for the purchase of land, which he should not
think of settling on, until he has sufficient means to
improve and turn it to profitable account.
There are few instances of sober and industrious
men remaining long without some freehold land for
themselves, and it is a most satisfactory consideration
to those who go out utterly dependent on their in-
dustrv, that their personal labour is, to them, a sure
mine of wealth. The labourer who has no money,
should at once go to service with a farmer in the
western district; if he is an able workman, he will
earn in felling timber suppose, 10 or 15 dollars a
month, often paid in agricultural produce, wheat,
Hour, or cattle, and sometimes in land ; there is be¬
sides plenty of job work in cleaning land, cutting
staves, cordwood, &c. at which vigorous and handy
men earn about 15 dollars a month. An American ac¬
customed to the w'ork will chop an acre of soft wood
in a week or little more, and any kind of hard wood
in a fortnight at farthest, and he receives from £1 to
£3 per acre for this, with excellent diet. Besides
chopping the timber, he must clear all the underwood
and lay it in heaps for burning, and cut up the trees
into proper lengths (with their heads together,) for
removal; and the timber of 4 or 5 acres will (through
the kind medium of the logging Itee) be drawn off
the ground in a single day. When timber is burned
if a potashary be near, the sale of the ashes will
produce a smart sum.
If he have a wife and daughters, they may earn
four or five, or perhaps six dollars a month each,
particularly if they can spin and card wool; (pretty
labourer’s wives and daughters they will be other¬
wise !) and hardy boys and girls can earn three or
four dollars a month each. Now what a nice stock
purse can thus be made up in a very short time!
all these wages are clear gain—hoard and lodging
being always provided—and they are well fed on ani-
49
mal food, and all kinds of good things, the very
mention of which would set your chops watering.
But again and again, I must press this important
point upon you, that male and female, if they expect
to prosper, must be willing and accustomed to
work;—the idle, the drunken, and the desponding,
have no business there, where all is energy of mind
and body.
Dr. Franklin, himself an extraordinary instance
of industry, temperance, perseverance, and talent,
called America in his day “ a country of labour,” it
is so still, for in the British Colonies, as w r ell as in
the parts to which he referred, the industrious have
nothing to fear ;—the certainty too, of making the
most of their time and labour, urges to extraordinary
efforts, and utterly, and at once, casts off all that
comparative indolence and dejection of spirits which,
many of you, from having so little stimulus, to ex¬
ertion, frequently manifest at home.
Many persons, who some years ago were without
a shilling, now possess in Canada, farms with 70 or
80 acres cleared, large stacks of corn, horses, oxen,
cow’s, sheep, hogs, and poultry ;—but on the other
hand, some, who might have been in good circum¬
stances, are very poor, but these are they whom dis¬
gusting intemperance has ruined, and such persons
would not thrive any w r here.
Perhaps you would like to see the rates of labour
of all kinds:
WAGES-BOARD NOT FOUND.
Stone Masons earn from 6s. 3d. to 7s. 6d. a day.
Bricklayers, 7s. 6d. to 8s. 9d. a day, or 12s. 6d. to Ids. per
thousand bricks laid.
Brickmakers, 5s. to 7s. 6d. per day.
Plaisterers, 7s. 6d. a day, or 9d. to lOd. per square yard of
work.
Carpenters and Joiners, 6s. 3d. a day.
Cabinet-makers, 7s. 6d. a day.
50
Sawyers, 7s. 6d. a day, or 7s. 6d. per 100 feet of pine.
And 8s. 9d. ... oak.
Painters and Glaziers, 5s. a day.
Coopers, 6s. 3d. to 7s. 6d. ...
Shipwrights, 7s. 6d. to 10s. ...
Blacksmiths, 5s.
Wheelwrights, 5s.
Waggon-makers, 5s. ....
Saddlers, 5s.
Curriers, 5s.
Tailor, .£1. for making a coat, 5s. trowsers, and 5s. waistcoat.
Shoemakers, 22s. 6d. for making a pair of top-boots—13s. 9d.
for a pair of Hessian boots—and 12s. 6d. for Wellington
boots.
Labourers and Farm Servants, 3s. 9d. a day.
In harvest time, 6s. 3d.
Reaping an acre of Wheat, 12s. 6d.
Cradling ... *.. 6s. 3d.
Mowing ... Hay, 5s.
Ploughing an acre of Land, 6s. 3d.
Harrowing ... ... 2s. 6d.
Now these are great wages, particularly when it is
ascertained that the articles of food are very moderate
according to the subjoined table of
MARKET PRICES.
Wheat per bush. 4s. 8d. to 5s. equal to 37s. 6d. to 40s. per quarter.
Barley ... 3s. 2d. ... 25s. 4d.
Rye ... 3s. 3d. ... 26s.
Oats ... Is. 6d. ... 12s.
Indian Corn 3s. 9d. • ... 30s.
Pease 3s. 2d. ... 25s. 4d.
Flour, 25s. per barrel of 196 pounds.
Beef, per pound, 3d. or by the quarter 22s. 6d. per 100 pounds.
Mutton ... 3Jd.
Pork ... 3d. or 25s. per 100 pounds.
V
Tallow ...
4id. rough.
Lard
5d.
Butter
9d. Fresh. 7|d. Salt.
Cheese
5d.
Eggs, per dozen, 9d.
Geese, per couple, 3s. 9d.
Ducks ... Is. lOd.
Fowls ... Is. 3d.
Turkeys ... 3s. 2d.
Hay, per Ton, £ 2 . 10s.
You will thank me for giving Mr. Pickering s ad¬
vice for the guidance of the settler who has obtained
land:
“To a person who is about to settle on entire
woodland, I would recommend the following system:
clear well a few acres in the immediate vicinity, and
all round the site on which the house is intended to
be built, that the trees left standing may be at a suf¬
ficient distance to be out of danger of falling on it,
and let a small piece be fenced off for cattle to lie in
at night, out of the same danger in windy weather;
then cut down, on ten or fifteen acres, the small and
decayed trees and under-brush; burn them, and
girdle the remainder of the trees ; sow this ground
with wheat early in the fall (autumn,) or part of it
with oats in the spring, and with them clover and a
small quantity of grass seeds mixed ; the clover and
grass to be mowed the first year or two, and grazed
afterwards. Do the same next year with a still fur¬
ther quantity for six or seven years in succession, and
likewise clear a small piece quite off for corn and
potatoes, cabbage, &c. in front of the house, and next
to the road or street. In -about six or seven years
the roots of the trees will be rotten, and some of the
girdled ones fallen ; then begin and chop down ten
or fifteen acres of these girdled trees yearly, in a dry
time, felling them across each other to break them
into pieces; put fire into them in various parts ot
52
the field and it will burn most of them up ; what
little may be left unconsumed, must be collected into
heaps and burned. It is necessary to keep a watch
over the fences while this is going on, that they
do not take fire. After this you may plough and
plant what you please, as, generally the ground will
be in pretty good condition.”
It is necessary to explain the term girdling * which
means, making an incision two or three inches deep
round the tree at the height at which it is usually
cut down, four feet from the bottom; this kills the
tree, which remains with its throat cut until there is
time to cut down and clear it away; the object is to
prevent the trees from overshadowing the crop around
them—and a very expeditious and economical mode
it is. The cut however ought not, I think, to be so
deep as to cause any danger of the trees falling from
the wintry blast, lest it might tumble on the cattle,
if they should have a range through the girdled por¬
tions of wood, or upon the fences which may be
close to them ; a shallow cut effectually destroys the
circulation of the sop and of course the vegetation
of the tree, and this is the object sought. The ex¬
perienced colonist disapproves however of this process
altogether. Take great care when chopping not to
bring the trees on your own heads; the boughs too,
when recoiling from the ground, sometimes strike a
severe and dangerous blow to the woodsman. An
acre may be rendered fit for culture at an expense of
40s. when partly girdled and partly chopped.
After the trees are cut down it is usual to leave
the stump and roots standing until age rots them
away, or until there is time for burning them. The
reason why the stumps are not rooted out, is because
time is too valuable to be expended in any labour not
immediately profitable. By clearing away the trees
* The larger trees only are girdled, those which do not ex¬
ceed ono> foot in diameter, are cut down.
53
which obstruct the passage of light and air, enough
is done to insure a succession of crops—and as the
introduction of the plough at first is not essential,
the loss of ground is merely that occupied by the
stumps and their roots ; an inconsiderable portion of
the whole surface—the more you can clear in a rough
way the better; the clearing of the stumps is to be
an after consideration, when you shall have first got
rid of the trees themselves, and raised crops enough
to render you independent. If a man’s labour can
clear half a dozen acres of the overshadowing tim¬
ber, in the time which it would require to clear one
acre of roots and all, and that these six acres could
be brought into immediate tillage, it follows that
time would be mispent (in the first years of settle¬
ment,) in taking out those stumps. A native would
rather clear an acre than fallow one. Many prefer
this new land to old cleared ground on account of the
great crops it produces; besides, in some few places
the timber is so valuable, as in the Otter creeks, that
land can be cleared for the price of the pines which
grow upon it; and a heap of cordwood (which is 8
feet long, 4 feet high, and 4 wide) fetches in the
neighbourhood of towns and villages from six to
seven shillings.
The land, as soon as the trees have been hauled
off, can be planted with potatoes, or Indian corn, and
the mode which you are to pursue is very simple:
plant three cuts, six inches apart, with a hoe or
spade, in holes or three feet asunder, and as the
potatoes grow up hoe them up into hillocks ; this
is a plan which I have myself pursued with Suc-
•cess, the mode differing only in this respect, viz.
drawing furrows with a plough 3 feet one way, and
then 3 feet- across, planting the cuts at the points ot
intersection, and earthing them as they grow up,
with a hoe, in mounds of one yard square, lour
potatoes, if out of the ground in an early _ season,
54
can be succeeded by wheat, harrowed in around the
stumps ; and spring sowing is but seldom practised.
The mode of sowing Indian corn is to drop two
or three grains of the seed into little holes made
with a hoe, in the same way, but not altogether at
such wide distances, as for potatoes. This corn is
most valuable for man and beast; it makes (when
ground) good pudding, used like stirabout or flum¬
mery with milk, and the meal is also made into cakes;
you have seen and perhaps eaten some of this flour
(imported from America) during very scarce seasons
into these islands. The unripe ears are sometimes
boiled and eaten like greens, with melted butter; it
is a hardy vegetable, but, requires to be hoed; this
operation, hewever, prepares the land for succeeding
crops of oats and clover, or wheat. It is fine food
for pigs, and oxen, and is one of the most essential
crops for the settler. May is the season for sowing
it, but it will not be too late in June; the stalks are
very nourishing for cattle, and they are very fond of
them. When ripe, in September, it is cut and saved
in the following manner ;—With either a sharp short
handled hoe, or a sickle, in one hand, you put the
other round a bunch, or what grows on one hill, and
chop it off close to the ground, when it is set up into
shocks of two or three armsful together, and a piece
of stem rapped round the top to prevent their being
blown down—after having stood a week or two, they
are dragged round a centre, and the husks stripped
from the ears by people sitting in a circle—the
husks are thrown in a heap in the middle, and the
stalks tied into sheaves, and again set into shocks, to
remain till quite dry, before being stacked for fodder.
The ears are picked up in baskets made for the pur¬
pose, put into waggons, and drawn to cribs made of
small sapling poles, twelve or fourteen feet long, and
notched and crossed at the ends by short ones four or
five feet long, laid alternately to the height of six or
seven feet, and covered over with a sheeting of boards
laid with sufficient inclination one way to shoot off
the rain. The corn ears are generally shelled by
hand, but a much more expeditious way is to thresh
them on a barn floor with a flail; one person will
thresh twenty five bushels in a day.”*
Pumpkins grow to a prodigious size, they are prin¬
cipally used for cattle feeding, as turinps are with us;
they are sown among the Indian corn, which they
do not injure—in giving them to cattle, salt is used.
I have the seed of one which weighed lOOlbs. and
they often exceed this weight considerably.
The mode of sowing Wheat for the first two years
on new land is very simple, merely harrowing in the
seed. The hauling off the timber by oxen suffici¬
ently tears up the loose surface in the first year; and
in the second, after burning the stubbles, the soil is also
sufficiently friable for the harrow. Ploughing is re¬
sorted to for the third crop. An acre of Wheat pro¬
ducing from 25 to 35 bushels per acre, is worth from
£5. to £8. at York. This grain is usually sown in
the folly a season corresponding with our autumn,
but in Lower Canada it is always sown in spring;
from the severity of the winter cold ; and this cir¬
cumstance alone must be a great disadvantage to the
Farmer in that province, who in a wet spring may
find himself greatly embarrassed, and overwhelmed
with work. '
In almost every lot are portions peculiarly suited
to certain crops, although the land may be capable
of yielding any kind of crop usual in the country—
for instance, the rich lands by the sides of rivers,
particularly those which are occasionally flooded, are
ready with little, if any, preparation for Tobacco and
Hemp, and other crops of this nature. Without
first yielding some such crops of an exhausting
quality, they would not produce corn, being too rank
and strong.
• Pickering.
56
Yet although premiums have been offered for the
culture of Ilemp,* I do not learn that much, if any,
has been sown except in the Huron Territory, where
Tobacco, as has been stated before, is cultivated to a
considerable extent.
Now, every man, woman, and child, who has had
the happiness of reading the sixth, or seventh, edi¬
tion of my first little volume of “ Hints to smalj
Farmers,” knows my dislike to the culture of To¬
bacco in these Islands ; but in the very rich lands of
America, where the climate is suited to it, I waive all
tnyobjections —there it may be very profitable,and as
long as people will smoke and use snuff, it must be
grown somewhere—the farther away from Mrs.
Doyle and me, however, the better.
Land which has been long in cultivation in the
older settlements, of Lower Canada especially, is
often to be seen under the same neat husbandry treat¬
ment for which Great Britain is so remarkable. In
the Upper Province however, and indeed upon all
new land, the same attention which is paid in the
latter country to the course of cropping is not ob¬
served, Rye being often sown after Wheat; imme¬
diate profit (as from necessity in Ireland) being the
object, where food is wanted for present consump¬
tion or the purpose of barter in exchange for labour,
and where land is of little value, the utmost possi¬
ble advantage must be taken. If after the Rye crop
the farmer is pressed for land he sows spring Wheat,
Oats, Indian corn or Pease, which last is rather an
improving crop. After first clearing the land, Tur-
nips and Potatoes answer remarkable well, the latter
(the ground never being ploughed for the first crop
after the clearing) are planted not in drills but with
a hand hoe.
Oatsare sown in May or June, and are very good,'
and worth Is. 8d. per bushel.
* Colonel Covert’s address oh the culture of Henip, in
the Appendix.
57
\
Barley is not very good in Canada, nor is it much
cultivated, though there is no reason why it should
not succeed by the importation of better seed. It is
principally used for the distillery, in which Bt/e
forms a more profitable article, and this may be the
cause of its being neglected.
Winter Barley (or Bere) is by far the best for
malting , and when breweries come to be more esta¬
blished, will be in great demand. When they be¬
come general, happy will it be for the Canadians, if
they can be persuaded to make use of wholesome
beer, instead of ardent spirits, (now alas ! not dearer
by the quart than malt liquor,) and to forsake their
besetting sin—drunkenness. No man who indulges
at home, in this destructive habit, should trust him¬
self as an emigrant to a country, where the facilities
of obtaining this destructive poison, will repel all
attempts at industry, and plunge him deeper and
deeper in misery and ruin.
The Swedish Turnip is a valuable article for win¬
ter keep, and possessing a great proportion of saccha¬
rine matter, is most nutritious for all farming stock,
particularly for horses. I have known a decayed old
horse, whose teeth were not good enough to masti¬
cate oats, or even hay, without much difficulty, thrive
and fatten upon Swedish Turnips. They are of a
solid and unwatery nature, which resists frosts, but in
the Canadian climate they must of course be drawn
before the snow falls, and packed in houses securely
for the winter. But as the fly is often injurious to
iurnips, Mangel Wurzel is a preferable crop, after
cattle manure has been accumulated, if it were only
to get rid of what is often considered an incumbrance,
and thrown into the rivers or lakes, if near the farm
yard. Mr. Ferguson heard of two farmers, who built
new stables and barns, to escape from an accumulation
of despised manure.
The culture of Artificial Grasses is essential to the
production of good winter forage, in a country where
58
hay from natural grass does not abound, except in
the case of Beaver meadow hay, if that can be called
natural which is really produced in the most unnatu¬
ral and artificial manner, by those most curious ani¬
mals, the Beavers, who by a powerful instinct, and
with heads that can only be exceeded by their tails,
(which are their trowels) form an industrious com¬
munity of masons, hodcarriers, and labourers, (I had
almost said carpenters) for the construction of their
houses and villages of brick work; and damming up
the streams for the preparation of their bricks and
mortar, produce thereby, for the occupier of the soil,
a coarse water meadow free of all cost and trouble.
The pastures of Canada being rank, coarse and
unsuited to sheep, it is considered desirable by expe¬
rienced persons there, that the Fescues and other
grasses adapted for this purpose should be more abun¬
dantly imported and sown. A chief meadow grass
indigenous to that country, is considered of great value
—the Timothy grass—in America termed Herts . It
yields an abundant crop, and is preferred to other hay
for horses.
With respect to general husbandry in Canada no
wise settler will speculate upon new modes unpractised
there, until an experience of the climate, and an ac¬
quaintance with the circumstances of the country
justify his departure from the ordinary track, and he
will always act wisely by following in the steps of
successful cultivators : not that I would recommend
you to go on in the jog trot of others, unless sound
judgment shall direct it, but I would have you com¬
mence with prudence, and proceed with caution, and
when experience shall have shown you defects in Can¬
adian husbandry, avoid them, adopting in their place
whatever methods your own good sense and discre¬
tion shall point out.
r \
59
The rates and stipulations on which Land can be purchased in
Upper Canada .
Out of the 18,116,800 acres British property in
North America, about 7,000,000 have been from time
to time granted to colonists; 4,805,400 acres are re¬
served for the crown and clergy, and of this reserve,
a part has been lately sold to the Canada Company,
and there remain disposable 5,011,400 acres within
the townships. Now, out of this vast surface, the
Upper Canada Company, which was incorporated in
1826, is in actual possession of 2,300,000 acres, of
which, as has been already stated, 1,100,000 is in that
most valuable district the Huron Territory, where
the Company, exclusively of their own liberal outlay
in various ways, have a power of expending, out of
the purchase money payable to Government, £45,000,
in works of public utility, in the disbursement of
which, the working classes of emigrants will obtain
lucrative employment—insuring present maintainance
and the accumulation of capital towards paying off the
small instalments, to which the purchase of land in
that extensive and most fertile region, are liable.
It appears by the “ Report of the Court of Direc¬
tors of the Canada Company,” that the sale of lands
there, averaged last year at 6s. 9d. per acre. Those
of the crown reserves at 9s. 7d. per acre. But from
the increasing demand for lots of land in that, part of
the province, as well as elsewhere, it is probable that
the average of the next year will be somewhat higher.
But there, as every where else, the price must be
regulated by circumstances, and increase where those
are peculiarly favourable. In the neighbourhood of
1 owns, and in the old Settlements, a much greater
rate of purchase must of course he paid, especially to
private individuals, who may have cleared lands, im¬
proved farms, or lots of building ground to dispose of,
and where none but those who carry out capital with
them to some extent, can think of fixing themselves
as landed proprietors.
Building lots of a quarter of an acre, sell for forty.
dollars, at Guelph for instance-improved farms in
its vicinity, with suitable buildings, bring* from 15s.
to 40s. per acre, which were sold a few years ago for
7s. 6d.—10s.—and 15s. to the highest bidder.
Nor can any thing more strongly show the rapidi¬
ty with which a prosperous settlement is formed in
Upper Canada, than the following account of the
building, &c. of this town of Guelph, which is situat¬
ed on a branch of the river Ouse, or grand river of
Lake Erie.
The operation of clearing the ground commenced
on the -23d of April, 1827." The first building erect
ed, was a large house for the reception of settlers on
their arrival. And as an encouragement to the early
settlers, it was promised, on behalf of the Company,
to set apart one-half of the prices obtained for town
lots, as a fund for building a school house, and main¬
taining a school master ; while sites for churches, and
burying grounds were given gratuitously to congre¬
gations of all religious denominations applying for the
same. As a further inducement to early settlers, the
price at first fixed for town lots of a quarter of an
acre each, was twenty dollars, with the privilege to
purchasers to take farms in the vicinity, of fifty
acres each, at 7s. 6d. or one and a half dollar per acre.
These prices, however, being insufficient to pay the
expenses incurred by the Company, were subsequent¬
ly raised, first to thirty dollars, and then to forty dol¬
lars, for town lots, and to 10s. and 12s. 6d. per acre
for the farms; and at these different prices, according
to the respective dates at which the contracts were
made, above 200 town lots, and 16,000 acres of land,
had heed engaged previously to the first of October,
at which period seventy-six houses were built, or
building—a saw-mill w'asin operation—a kiln of bricks
was actually burning—a grist mill v'as in progress—a
market house; two taverns, and several stores had
been opened. Several tradesmen and mechanics had
established themselves, and found advantageous em¬
ployment-^. temporary school house was regularly
61
attended by above forty children, the foundation of a
stone building for a permanent one had been laid ; and
a printing office was in preparation.
Settlers, with capital, who prefer establishing
themselves on land, on which partial clearings have
been made, and log houses erected, will generally
find lots with such improvements for sale. This
arises from persons going originally in very destitute
circumstances, or rather dependent on the Company’s
assistance, who, having succeeded on their lots, are
willing to sell their land at a reasonable profit to new
comers, from four to six dollars per acre, with the
improvements on the same. These persons generally
remove farther westward ', and, having acquired suffi¬
cient knowledge of the country, make new purchases,
upon which they may execute further improvements,
and according to the extent of his means, each person
can be accommodated—-the poorest labourer, and the
largest capitalist, will find proportional instalments.
The man who can command a hundred pounds on his
arrival, will be able to support his family in comfort—
he pays down at first to the Company but one-fifth,
that is, ^20, the remainder by similar instalments,
of one-fifth for each of four years more ; and so libe¬
ral are the terms of the Company, that they will in
future take the instalments, not in money, but in
farming produce on the spot, and of course relieve
the occupier, so far, from the cost and trouble of
taking it to market.
Another advantage may be made available to the
purchaser, who, by making a deposit of any portion
of the payment in London, will not lose the benefit
of a current rate of exchange, in Upper Canada,
which is sometimes as high as ten per cent.
In short both individuals, and associations of in¬
dustrious emigrants are treated with, on the most
liberal terms, and may have the most extended cre¬
dit—and, perhaps, advances made to them, as far as
may be consistent with eventual security to the Com¬
pany—and farms can also be rented for money or on
62
shares, which means half the clear produce as rent—
thus the emigrant according to his circumstances may
fix himself as a farmer.
But by what course, and at what expense are you
to reach this desirable land ? I shall now tell you
How to arrive at Upper Canada , by New York t and at
what cost .
Steerage.
Cabin.
From Bristol to New York,
£5 10
0
£25
0 0
— Liverpool,
ditto,
5 0
0
30
0 0
— Dublin,
ditto,
4 10
0
— Cork,
ditto,
4 10
0
20
0 0
— Limerick,
ditto,
4 10
0
— Sligo,
ditto,
— Londonderry, ditto?
— Belfast,
ditto,
— Greenock,
ditto,
5 10
0
25
0 0
— New York to Albany, -
0 6
9
— Albany to Buffalo Point, by
Canal Boat,
,
2 0
0
— Buffalo Point to any part of the
Canadian side, provisions included 0 18 0
For those to whom expense is not a very serious
consideration, I recommend this passage—First, be¬
cause the sea voyage is shorter—the banks of New
Foundland are avoided, which is the most dangerous
part of the course, and the dangerous navigation
of the St. Lawrence, with the probability of baffling
head winds there avoided.
Those to whom money is an important object,
(even though they be of a higher class of Emigrants,
suppose half-pay officers with their families, or gen¬
tlemen of limited means with two or three hundred
pounds in their pockets,) will act wisely in not going
out as cabin passengers ; they can bargain for part of
the steerage accommodation, partitioned off for them¬
selves, and when they land, it will be better for them
to have the cabin fare (a large sum if families are
concerned,) in their pockets, for the purchase and
improvement of estates—the money saved in this
63
way by a single individual, would purchase in fee,
fifty acres of estate. And who in Upper Canada
cares, or will ever enquire, whether the new colo¬
nist slept in one part or the other of the ship which
brought him, and, perhaps, his wife, and little ones,
to the land of independence and peace; nor would
a real gentlemen he lowered in the estimation of any¬
one but a fool, for economizing funds, so essential
to his future prosperity. But this route is not the
best for the very poor emigrant who must proceed in
one of the vessels employed in the timber trade to
Upper Canada by Quebec. His limited means would
not allow him to take the other course, and if his
pockets were empty on his arrival at New York he
would probably suffer extreme distress, be taxed in
the first instance for hospital purposes, in case of his
becoming a burthen upon the Stales, where many of
our poor have suffered most grievously. Besides, if
be takes out Birmingham or other goods on specula¬
tion for sale, (and much money may be realized in
this way) he is charged 30 per cent, on landing at
New York—and again taxed for the same articles if
he takes them on to Canada. But let
us
now
have
The Rates by Quebec .
Steerage.
Cabin.
From Bristol to Quebec,
- «€4 10
0
£15
0
0
— Liverpool, to ditto, -
4 0
0
15
0
0
— Dublin, to ditto,
1 10
0
12
0
0
— Cork, to ditto,
2 10
0
12
0
0
— New Ross and Waterford,
to do. 2 0
0
10
10
0
— Limerick, to ditto, -
£2. to 2 10
0
12
0
0
— Sligo, to ditto,
2 10
0
12
0
0
*— Londonderry, to ditto,
1 10
0
12
0
0
— Belfast, to ditto,
1 10
0
10
10
0
— Greenock, to ditto,
3 10
0
15
0
0
Provisions for each adult from any of the English
ports may be estimated for the poorest person, at £4,
from Scotch ports, £3. 10s. From Irish ports, £1,
10s.*
u .
64
For infants there is no charge, and for grown
children only half price.
The average length of voyage to Quebec is from
four to five weeks in spring, the proper time foi the
agricultural emigrant to go out, (mechanics will nnd
employment at any season,) the shortest is per¬
formed in three weeks and the longest in ten weeks.
Provisions must be taken out for the longest pe¬
riod, as it would be very miserable to one blessed
with a good stomach, to have nothing to put into
it, during the latter weeks of a voyage lengthened by
accidental circumstances.
Those who have been accustomed to use English
diet, generally take with them biscuit, cheese, bee ,
pork, tea, potted herrings, split peas for soup, tea,
sugar, flour, onions, porter, ale, and gin, mustard,
vinegar, pepper, and milk—which last, after having
been boiled, should be carefully sealed up in jars, and
if lib. of loaf sugar be added to it, there is no danger
of its not keeping fresh during the voyage.
But the Irish and Highland Scotch, unaccustomed
to so many good things, some of which they have,
perhaps, never tasted in their lives, are usually
content with a supply for each individual, consisting
of 4st. of oatmeal, 4st. of cutlings for gruel, 4st. ot
biscuit, £st. of sugar, -^lb of tea, 4st. of butter, 20st.
of potatoes, and a few dozen of eggs, which should
be well greased, to exclude the air, and consequently
preserve them fresh. I must add a quart or two ot
whiskey, for emergencies, and no considerate agent
would recommend or allow a much greater quantity.
Wooden noggins and trenchers, and tin porringers
are much better than delf-ware, which is so liable to
be broken in a rolling sea, or by accident—a few sim¬
ple cooking utensils are of course necessary.
As to dress, linen being dear in Canada, I advise
you to take out as many shirts and shifts as you can,
• * The Steerage passage from Dublin was only £1. 5s. last
year, from the great competition among the Merchants there.
and a good supply of short jackets of light material,
for summer use, with duck trowsers; and, for win¬
ter, strong dreadnought great coats and trowsers,
plenty of woollen stockings, mittens, shoes, and a
pair of leather gaiters; fur caps you will find neces¬
sary in winter, and much cheaper here than in
Canada.
When the emigrant lands, he and his family are
kindly looked to by the Company’s Agents, at Que¬
bec, Montreal,* and New York, and will (if he
contracts for land, and pays a first instalment at any
of those places) be expeditiously conveyed, and free
of expense, to the head of Lake Ontario; and if
the emigrant does not eventually purchase land from
the Company, his deposits are returned to him, after
deducting merely the expenses of his transmission to
York ; a liberal measure which has been received
with much satisfaction in that country.
Such is the demand for labour there, that every
person able and willing to work is sure of being em¬
ployed at the high rates, and with the other advan¬
tages, which have been before enumerated.
It may be fairly stated, that for £6. a single
labourer will find himself at York; and he may
easily calculate the expenses of a family movement.
It is quite necessary , however , that each should be se¬
cure of having a small sum , say £2. on reaching his
point of destination ; this may be effected through
the Agents, by a deposit at first made by the indivi¬
dual or his friends; better than to trust it to the
temptation of disbursement on the journey .f
* A Benevolent Society 1ms been lately established at
Montreal, to relieve and forward to the Western districts
any distressed Emigrants who may unfortunately from illness,
or other causes, be unable to proceed without aid.
f Much distress was experienced last Spring at Quebec, by
a considerable number of Irish Emigrants, who arrived^there
pennyless: their unfeeling landlords having paid their ex¬
penses no farther than that port, instead of furnishing them,
66
CONCLUSION.
It is to be regretted that there are still vast
portions of the Canadas unoccupied. Many of the
crown-reserves, which form a seventh part of the
land, have remained as waste, in the hands of Go¬
vernment for more than thirty years. Now if we
estimate the effect of their being so neglected, even
in the case of a single lot of *200 acres, (the usual
admeasurement of a distinct farm,) what a loss in
point of revenue! Had it become the settlement of
an industrious family what would it not have yielded
in thirty years to the mother country—in consump¬
tion of its manufactures,—to the province, bv the
increase of its productions and natural strength,—
to its own immediate neighbourhood, by the support
of the industrious, contributing at the same time, to
the healthiness of the surrounding farms, by the
clearing of the forests!—What a prodigious loss,
when the calculation is made, not on a solitary lot,
but on 2,750,000 acres reserved for the crown and
for the clergy equal to 27,500 lots of 200 acres
each. Some of these it is true are under lease, but
the proportion is inconsiderable.
Since our last war with the United States, settlers
from them, though a hardy and useful class of peo¬
ple_expert as axemen, and industrious as farmers,
ambitious of a competency and peculiarly delighting
in the labours of a new country, have not met any
welcome from the provincial Governments—many of
them would have made valuable subjects of Great
Britain, as has been proved in the instance of
Quakers from Pennsylvania, and American Germans
from the States, accustomed to farming, who, in
forming their settlement, brought along with them
{through the Company's Agents) with the means of proceed-
ing to the Upper Province, where abundant employment
awaited them.
67
vj
their cattle, waggons, horses, household furniture,
and, of greater importance still—habits of morality,
industry, and economy.
Nor would the numbers from the United States
have been more than a fair proportion, to instruct
the British colonists in their labours, for the United
States present to their own labouring citizens too
wide a field for their industry at home, to give cause
for apprehension that they would leave their own
boundaries, in overwhelming numbers.
If wastes be unprofitable, how is the evil to be re¬
medied ?—By emigration,—and this is now most
deservedly encouraged. Too rapid a multiplication
need not be feared ; the natural increase of the pre¬
sent population (about 250,000) can be but small,
compared with the vast quantity of labour which so
many millions of acres demand.
The number of tradesmen and labourers, which
will be required in the British colonies of North
America, cannot possibly be calculated: for, with all
the zeal and energy of a new world rising into life,
that country will probably continue to advance in
improvement, for many centuries to come. The
clearing of land, building of houses, cutting of
canals, and forming of roads, will employ countless
multitudes.
It is the avowed intention of the Upper Canada
Company (whose spirited proposals for the sale of
farms, the rates of which I have already stated, and
whose liberal plans for the accommodation of settlers
I have also put forward) not to assist mere idle
speculators , but to encourage the occupation of lands
by a steady and industrious agricultural population !
to individuals, or families of that description, well
recommended from the Parent Country they fre¬
quently make advances on security, for the culti¬
vation of lots, until a crop shall be raised to repay
the loan.
In no other country in the world can such com-
t58
forts and advantages be obtained in exchange for
labour and industry; but, at the same time 1 do not
recommend those, who enjoy happiness and comforts
at home, even \titb a life of toil, to emigrate on
mere speculation; or from the love of change to
forsake the land of their birth and their affections.
To such (as has been well observed) theepitaph
“ I was well—I would be better—here I am,” would
apply—it would be a mournful inscription on a head
stone in a foreign land, expressive of the speculative
folly and blighted hopes of the disappointed ; but it
fortunately and critically happens that the people
most wanted are those who have no inducement tQ
remain at home—the poorest classes with rising
families, able and willing to work, but unable to ob¬
tain employment; and this fact deserves observation,
that since none are more averse from leaving then
country than the Irish, nothing can more strongly
prove the fascination of Upper Canada than Hie ex¬
tensive emigration which (from the facilities afforded,
and the favourable reports of emigrants) has taken
place within the last year from the Irish ports; and
it is likely to increase in future. Those with whom
any change must be for the better, are the obvious
subjects for emigration; but to other and higher
grades it is equally tempting; to the farmer who
cannot improve his capital, and has just enough to
settle him safely there, to the half-pay officer with
an increasing family, and to the young and zealous
Clergyman who may have the means of puichasing
a farm, and the ability to supply the spiritual wants of
the settlers in his neighbourhood.
I have thus endeavoured to supply the Emigrant
with the most necessary points of information to
guide him to an economical, convenient, and pros¬
perous Settlement. I have presented him with a con¬
cise and cheap book. Were it dearer, he might not
wish to buy it; and were it longer, he might not
like to read it.
69
Within such limits minute details cannot be ex¬
pected ; but for its extent, I hope its communica¬
tions w ill not be considered useless or unimportant:
they are the result of deep and anxious enquiry,
from the latest and most approved authorities; from
intimate friends, prosperously settled in the Coun¬
try; and from intelligent persons now here, and
about to return to the scene of their successful im¬
provements.
I trust that the Hints I have put together in the
foregoing pages may be serviceable, especially to my
own Countrymen ; and so impressed am I with the
advantages which are offered to the Settler in Upper
Canada, that were I not engaged in public and pri¬
vate duties, I would join the first merry-hearted set
of Irish Emigrants in planting ourselves, and our
potatoes , on one of the richest Townships in the
Huron Territory.
E
u
70
APPENDIX.
Extracts from original and unpublished Letter's.
1 .
“ Brockville, June 10th, 1827.
" My dear Mother,
« I am happy in having tliis opportunity of writing these
few lines to you, hoping they will find you, with my sisters
and brothers, in good health as I am at present: thanks be %
to the Lord for it.
“ With regard to my voyage ; we sailed from Passage, on
the 13th of April, and landed in Quebec the 4th of May :
we had a pretty favourable time of it, only one day and
night unpleasant enough to make us wish ourselves in the
old country again. I thank the Lord I did not get one
hour’s sickness since I left home as yet—not a soul on board
could say the same. Dear Mother, I did not stop in Quebec
as I intended: I found that the hire of a clerk is lower than
that of a good labourer; besides, I should serve two years
apprenticeship, and learn two kinds of French. So I thought
it better to go on and see my sister and friends, and all my
old neighbours, and kindly they received me. Dear Mother,
I am afraid you will blame me for what I have done. I
have bound myself an apprentice to a joiner in Brockville,
for three years : he is an eminent tradesman, and of good
principles. He is allowing me 40/. for the three years, with
every other accommodation. I have as good boarding as any
man in Brockville, and am pleased with what I have done.
With regard to the country, it is, in my opinion, a great deal
better than Ireland. The land in general is very good, and
not as hard to be cleared as you may think. I have seen as
good corn and meadowing as ever I saw in Ireland; and
mountains of dung not made any use of. Every stone you
would see is limestone. And there is plenty of marl—and
none made use of. They can plant potatoes, and have them
excellent for table in seven weeks.—Barley in like manner.
The apples, plums, cherries, gooseberries, currants, and grapes
of all kinds, grow naturally in the woods. Yet I would not
encourage any person to come here for fear of any thing hap¬
pening to them. Let any who can live without working at
home, stay at home ; but for him who can labour this is
the best country: he will get from 201. to 301. a-year.
Tradesmen of all descriptions ought to come here : a black¬
smith, if he is able to work on his own account, can earn
from 6 to 8 dollars a-day ; otherwise a dollar a-day. Joiners,
tailors, and shoemakers, 7s. 6d. a-day. Samuel Hendrick and
his family, are doing well; he has 200 acres of good land, and
twenty of it cleared. He has 8 acres of wheat (and better
I never saw) and 2 acres of potatoes, and kitchen vegetables,
&c. George has half the land, and two parts of the stock ;
he is an endeavouring and well respected fellow. * * * are
doing well.
“ Remember me to * * *
“ Your ever affectionate son,
“ Thomas Graham
To Mrs. Elizabeth Graham , Clondaw t
Near Enniscorthy , Ireland.
2 .
FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.
“ June 10th, 1828.
“ Dear Mother,
" I received your affectionate letter, and am happy to hear
that you were all in good health, as I am and have been ever
since I came to this country; thanks be to the giver of all
goodness.
72
“ I remain with Mr. Reynolds still, and am doing very
well. Last January I was offered 100 dollars a-year, if I
would leave my master; but I would not accept it: so you
may judge I have made pretty good use of my time. My
master is a sober religious man, and lie takes great pains to
instruct me in my duty to God, as well as my trade; so I hope
it was the Lord who put courage into my heart to leave
Ireland. With respect to diet, it is always good here: no
difference in this respect from one end of the year to the
other. * * * John Morris and his family are
doing well; he has bought a farm from his brother, and 6ays
that he is now settled for life. As to * * * he
is doing but middling—he has good wages, but they are
not enough for him, as he is greatly given to drink, and de¬
bases himself in consequence. * * * Men must la¬
bour very hard here; but they are well fed and well paid ;
and what a man has is his own ; there is no landlord or tyrant
to reign over them. Men who came here some years ago,
have large clearances now, and are taking their ease. The
chief objection folks have to this country, is the want of
pleasures, but these are vanities. This country answers
well for young men, or men with grown up families ; by in¬
dustry they will have peace and plenty. * * * Gold is
the most profitable to bring here. * * With regard to the
climate, as far as I can judge, it is quite temperate : last
winter was the finest winter I have ever seen; there was a
keen frost, but no wet or wind, nor much snow ; so that it
was quite pleasant. Neither is there any intense heat. I
have not felt as warm days as in Ireland last summer. The fall
and spring are the disagreeable seasons. * * * I am making
great way in my trade, and if God spares me, I hope to do
better than ever you could provide for me in Ireland. I am sorry
that poor Sam settled himself there, for this is a better
country for industrious people. Land is getting pretty dear
here in the settled parts, but yet there is room and many
chances, of which there are none in Ireland. I wonder why
folks think so hard of leaving that distressed country, surely
it is only a few weeks journey. Dear Mother, I would be
glad to see you all coining here, where you could nourish
<
73
yourselves with the fruits of your labour, but choose for
yourselves. Il I was as Joshua and Sam, and knowing ra
much of this country as I do, I would sell out all and stay
no longer labouring under the heavy yoke. With a little
money and my industry I could possess more property here
in three or four years than I could ever have in Ireland,
and I could call it my own . If some of Michael Redmond’s
sons, or some more of those brave boys would venture here,
they would do well: but I suppose this will be sore news to
some of their people. * * * E. K. was going to get
married last June, but unfortunately her spark got drowned
a few days before the time. * * * It is useless to bring
much fine clothes here, they are almost as cheap as in
Ireland.
3.
“ York, Upper Canada, April 2d, 1830.
u My dear Friends,
“ We received your kind letter, dated April, in June,
from which we understand that my Mother died in March
last ; and though we have natural feelings like other people,
yet we dare not complain, but must say that He who gives
has the same right to take away, and must consider it to be
a loud call to ourselves, saying, * be ye also ready, for in such
an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.’ * * *
“ North America altogether is in a prosperous way T and I
have no doubt but it will continue to prosper more and more ;
but people who come here must not expect to see a clear and
improved country like England, for you know England is a
small stock of country and an old improved one; but this is
a large stock of country newly settled and comparatively un¬
improved, and roads bad, in consequence of which, it has a
wild appearance to an Englishman just arrived, and w'hoever
cpmes hither must make himself acquainted with the ways
and manners of the people, and not expect the people of
America to comply with his manners and customs. * * *
If they can be patient for a while and look about them, they
will in general find that they can do better here than there.
74
You wish me to give you my opinion, which is the best place
to come to, the United States or Canada ? to w'hich I would
answer, farmers who come to Canada, I think will do better
than they would in the United States; first, because farms
can be more easily obtained in Canada than in the States;
secondly, because Canadian wheat and flour have the prefer¬
ence in the English and West India markets; and in conse¬
quence of which, produce is generally at a higher rate in
Canada than in the States. Mechanics can do as well here
as there, and labourers likewise. Manufacturers might do
better in the States than here, but I would advise manufac¬
turers or workers in factories, (cloth, cotton, or silk,) not to
depend on getting into their different branches of business in
America. People coming to Canada can always find a way
to turn themselves, and do well if they are careful and steady,
and I think the climate here is better adapted to Englishmen
than is that of the United States. * * * When you
write pay the postage to Liverpool and write * Via New
York,’ on the letter ; I shall receive it in half the time, and
at a less expense than by the Falmouth Mail or Packet.
“ We remain, &c. &c.
“John and Martha Deal”
4.
“Yarmouth, August 9th, 1830.
“ Dear Parents,
« I suppose that by this time a letter from me will not be
very unwelcome, particularly when I inform you that I have
no doubt of doing very well. In my last letter I quite for¬
got to tell you, that we saw no ice on our voyage ; as soon
as our vessel came to the wharf at New York, there came se¬
veral persons on board to inquire for servants; we were also
asked as we passed the streets, if we knew of any English
people who wished to obtain servants’ places, either men or
women. We also saw many who were about to return to
England again, from whom I endeavoured to gain all the in¬
formation they could give me respecting the country, and
their reasons for leaving it; and from all, I had every reason
75
to conclude, that it wa9 intemperance, or home sickness, that
made them dissatisfied with America. * * • * Old
Air. G.-told us they were as happy as the day was long;
they only grieved sometimes to think when they sat down to
a well supplied table, and reflected that perhaps many whom
they well knew at home, were in want of what in this coun¬
try is thrown away. I have seen the heads of cows and
sheep thrown out for the dogs, and calves heads too. Mr.
G-says, they have every thing they want to make them
happy and comfortable, and are saving money ; they had no
doubt that all who came, could do well here ; but they
never would persuade any, as there are some who do not like
the country. I did not like New York, because it was so
hot; I could have had plenty to do if I had stayed there. I
inquired respecting Mr. C.-, and was informed that he
was doing very well, and that he had agreed with a Captain
in New York to bring over his family, of which I suppose
before this you have heard. We left New York on the loth
of June, and went,on board a steam boat, and arrived at
Albany, 160 miles in 18 hours, for 4s. 6d. each. We then
engaged with a Captain of a tow boat to take us to Buffalo,
a distance of 363 miles, for 11s. 3d. each, in your money.
From Buffalo we had to cross Lake Erie about 3 miles to
Port Erie, in order to take ship to go to Kettle Creek, 150
miles.
“ A Quaker gentleman who had come up with us from
Port Erie, on a visit to hi9 friends at Yarmouth, 9 miles
distant, had been there, and informed them that a shoe-maker
was come, and a son of a farmer accompanied him with a
light waggon to bring U9 and our luggage to Yarmouth, as a
shoe-maker was wanted there very badly. We remained at
farmer K-’s eight days, where we received all the kind¬
ness imaginable. We are at present living in a large school¬
room, (which is not used in the summer,) as there is no house
vacant; there will be one in about two months, which, if I
stay here, I may have with two acres of land to it, for three
shillings per month: I see plainly there will be work enough if
I had two or three hands. I have a great deal more now than
I can do, and they tell me there will be more after harvest ;
76
but there is no possibility of getting hands; the inhabitants
are all farmers, they kill their own meat, get their skins
tanned and curried, so that they find their own leather. I
had 13s. 6d. for making a pair of Wellington boots, which
will go nearly as far again in provision here as at home; the
price for men and women’s shoes is alike 4s. 6d. for light,
and 3s. 6d. for stout ones; they find their own thread too, so
that I have nothing to get but wax and hairs; nor have I
anything to do with finishing oif the uppers. As I save
money now very fast, I shall soon be able to buy my own
leather, wliich will be more profitable. At the same time
I am not satisfied with this situation, as there is no meeting
within three miles of us, except the Quakers, and they only have
it once on a Sunday, they are nearly all Quakers here; they
are very kind indeed, they all want us to visit them. We
have as much as we like for fetching of potatoes, french beans,
cucumbers, peas, onions, &c. in great abundance, from any
of the neighbours, with a hearty welcome. The best mutton
is 2£d. per pound, veal 2d. tea and sugar full as cheap again
as at home, butter 6d. I tell you the price of every thing in
English money to prevent mistakes. Taxes here are very
light; Mr. K.-owns 200 acres, has a considerable live
stock, and all the tax he pays is thirteen shillings annually.
We have all, through mercy, enjoyed excellent health ever
since we have been here; the climate is perhaps a little
warmer here than at home, but I do not find a very great dif¬
ference. Flour, I should have said, is hardly three farthings
per pound, potatoes 4Jd. per peck now, but they will be
cheaper soon it is expected. The inhabitants of this place are
principally from the States; they say it is decidedly better
here. Their land is from 9s. to 18s. per acre. There are
several Englishmen here. Farmer D-took us up to South
Wold, to see Mr. A-., 17 miles hence, without charge.
Mr. A-likes the country better than he could have ex¬
pected, and says he would not leave it for any money, and in¬
deed all who came over with us, like it very well. We
should be extremely happy if there were a meeting near us.
I want to be at b rome on Sundays, and here other days.
Now I hope you will make up your minds to come, and
77
bring with yon a number of truly religious people, and among
them an humble preacher. I have no doubt but that much
good in a spiritual way might be done, for those who are not
Quakers, say they wish there was preaching here, as they do
not like to go to the Quaker’s meeting. There is no doubt
but all industrious persons who come will do well, the people
here wonder that more do not come. We were told at New
York, that 7000 had landed there in about 4 or 5 weeks, and
*200 families have landed at this creek this summer: but they
are lost almost as a drop in a bucket. From all the informa¬
tion I can gain, there is not the shadow of a doubt, but that
all who are willing to work, can get plenty of work, and good
pay. Mechanics they say are wanted very badly. I have no
doubt but after we are a little more settled, we shall be able
to save 30 shillings per week; but you have heard there is but
little money here—wheat is considered the same as money.
When I make a pair of shoes for a person, he asks we at what
mill I will have my wheat lodged, I tell him, he then takes
it and brings me a receipt, I have then to say whether I mean
to sell or have it ground for my own use; if I sell it, I can
get cash for it by waiting about a month; this is the way the
trade of this country is carried on. But it is a growing coun^
try, and money gets more plenty every year. We are a great
deal more comfortable than we expected to be, in so short a
time. I want to advise you all to come, for here we are ajl
free from anxiety as to getting on. But the difference between
having and not having religious privileges is so great, that I can¬
not conscientiously persuade you to come, till I can fix on a place
where they are more happily blended with temporal ones, unless
you could bring, as I have before hinted, a number of Christians,
which would consummate our happiness. I should he happy
to hear that two or three thousand were coming from home,
as it would be the best thing in the world for them, there
w'ould be plenty for them to do, and a plenty to eat and
drink; in this there is no mistake. I seom to want to tell
this, that, and the other story about men who came without
a single shilling, but have now good farms of their own ; hut
they would be so numerous, I can only say that all the good
accounts I have read of America, I believe to he correct. I
E 5
78
should like you to send me word what day and month you re¬
ceive this, that I may know how long it was on the passage.
I hope you do not entertain the melancholy idea of never
meeting again, I have no doubt of it. But I must now con¬
clude with our sincere love.
“ We remain dear Parents,
“ Most affectionately yours,
“ J. and M. T - ”
5.
“ Dundas, September 3d, 1830.
“ Dear Friends,
* * * tt Health is a beautiful thing,
and it depends on God to give it, for were it in the hands of
man, health would decline as many other things have in Eng¬
land : such as labour and victualling; which* if God gives us
our health, is quite plentiful with us. We have plenty of good
beef and mutton, flour, pork, fish, fowl, and butter, and by
one day’s work, a man can supply himself with these neces¬
saries sufficient for three days. You have a good many cold
bellies to go to bed with, or things are greatly altered since I
was with you; but here, if you choose, your belly would be
so warm for three halfpence, that you would not know the
way to bed. I will give you the outlines of our voyage • *
We were landed on the 8th of June, at Quebec, and then
agreed with the Canada Company to go to Guelph (which is
a new township, about 700 miles from Quebec) to take land.
* * * Harvest work is one dollar a day with
board, other work three-fourths of a dollar. A woman who
goes out to washing, half a dollar a day and board. Women who
can work well with the needle, earn good wages. *
Beef and mutton sell for 2d. and 3d. per lb. *
Henry, you may depend upon it that all this is true, so that
you see here is all the chance in the world for a poor man to
live. * * * *
“ Your loving cousin,
** Wm. Snelyrove."
)
79
6 .
“ Nelson, November 14th, 1830.
u Sir,
“ I write these lines to you, hoping to find you in good
health, as it leaves us at present, thank God for it. I am
happy to state that we are in a good country for poor folks;
we have plenty of good fire and grog—wheat 4s. per bushel,
good boiling peas 8s. 6d.—rye 3s.—buck wheat 2s. fid.—Indian
corn 2s. fid_oats 2s.—potatoes Is. 3d. We arc not in the
habit of raising much barley, nor beans. Rum lOd. per quart
—good whiskey 7£d. per quart—brandy Is. 9d.—port wine Is.
3d.—tea 3s. fid. per pound ; we make our own sugar out of
maple trees ; we make our own soap and candles; bake good
light bread without barm. Beef 2d. per pound—mutton 2d.—
pork 2Jd.—fat geese Is. fid.—best fowls Is. 3d. per couple.
Wages 91, per month and our keep ; we dine with our masters.
W r omen 2s. fid. per day, and good keep. Price of land is about
1/. per acre near the roads ; some back is cheaper. We have no
poor rates nor taxes of any consequence. We hear of war in
France, and a new King in England. I see in the paper the
great lamentation of our departing from Chapmanslade, more
need to rejoice. We three brothers have bought 200 acres of
land, at 12s. 6d. per acre, 125/.; we have paid 25/. and we have
got to pay 100/. in five years, that is 20/. a year, between
three, that is 6/. 13s. 4d. each, and pay off in 5 years; it is
in Nelson, district of Gore, with a pretty good road to our
lot, only nine miles from the Lake Ontario—a good sale for
all grain—a grist mill, and a saw mill within about 25 chains,
which is a great advantage. A good river runs right through
our lot of land, and good springs rise on it, we shall never
want for water; we have several adjoining houses, chiefly of
English people. We shall never want timber nor water. We
can raise up a good house in a little while, at little expense ;
we have thousands of tons of timber, and good stone for
building. It is called the healthiest place in Upper Canada ;
80
we have no sickness since we have been here, and are stouter
than we were in England. But there are many who were sick
at first. We should be very happy to see all our friends here,
old and young, if they could ; we are providing a home. Sarah
would be glad to see all her friends here, but does not wish to
go back. If any should come, we should be glad to have brought
some cabbage seed of early kinds. Hazel nuts, all kinds of
kernels, or grafts, pears, plumbs, cherries, gooseberries, thorn
berries, and turnip seed, carrot seed, leek seed, we should be
glad to have brought. Bring hooks, hatchets, scythes, reaping-
hooks, and fire irons ; but no wood. We expect to clear 20
acres by next harvest; we cut the trees about three feet above
ground, and put fire to it, and burn it root and branch if we
can. I have sent two letters before ; I should like to have
one from you. Thomas Hunt is in good health, had no
sickness by sea nor land. We are about seven hundred miles
from Quebec, that is but little here. James and Jemima
Hunt never wish to return to England, but wish that all our
friends were here; for here is plenty of work, and plenty to
eat and drink. We all wish that our fathers, mothers, bro¬
thers and sisters were here, for here is plenty of room for all
there is in England. They that think to work may do well,
but if our fathers and mothers were here they should never be
obliged to do a hard day’s work, for we would keep them
without work, if they were not able. But if any of you
should, I would wish you to make up your minds beforehand,
not to be faint hearted ; you may expect rocking, but I don’t
fear the raging seas, for perhaps more may come as safely as
we, for the God that rules the land, rules the sea ; it may be
that one might have a long passage, but they see something
wonderful every day: such fish ! the sights will be worth
their passage. There are some that came here this year,
turned back before they knew whether ’tis good or bad. But
thank God that we are here.
“ J. and J . Hunt .”
Nelson, District of Gore, Upper Canada,
North America.
7.
“ North Branch of Talbot, December 10th, 1830.
“ Dear Brothers and Sisters,
* * * * “We landed here last July, and
like the country well. We are settled about two miles from
Silcox. Clements and I have bought 100 acres of land be¬
tween us. I have cleared on my share about 25 acres for
70/., and have paid down for the purchase 12/. 10s. and the
remainder I have five years to pay it. I have a house and
barn ready to go into. S. is hired by the year for 12/. 10s.
with board and lodging. Men's wages are from 3s. to 5s. a
day, take the year round, with hoard. Clements and I cut,
threshed, and winnowed in four days, 84 bushels of peas ;
and for our wages, got 21 bushels, besides our board. Wheat
here sells for 3s. the bushel,—peas 2s. 10d.,—oats Is. 3d.,—
Indian corn 2s. lOd. We have a very healthy country. If
any of you have any notion of coming here, be sure to pro¬
vide strong boxes, as ours went all to pieces before we got half
way. Whatever earthen ware you have, pack among your
clothes in your boxes. * * • Farmers live well
here, as they have all they can make, and no rents to pay,
and but very little taxes—for 200 acres of land, with stock
and improvements, ticelve shillings will pay them. Josiah, if
you can, bring a good set of carpenter’s tools, picks, prongs,
door hinges, hooks, a good hay-knife, rings, wedges. Tell
Rhoda and Tabitha to bring me a good hay-cutting knife,
and tell brother Nathan or Noah to send me the iron of the
lathe. Tell brother Elisha not to come by way of Quebec, as
New York is much cheaper and safer; you can come by
water within seven miles of this.
“ Believe us to be, as usual,
“ Your affectionate Brother and Sister,
“ Esau and Elizabeth Pronglcg."
8 .
<« York, Upper Canada, January 20th, 1831.
« Dear Brothers and Sisters,
* * * * « I have got a shop and sell all kinds of
pastries and groceries ; we are doing very well : tell Ben-
82
jamin to learn the pastry business well and to come here,
where it is a very profitable business. I like America very
well, but should like it much better if you were all here ;
make up your minds and come to us, don’t fear crossing the
sea, for when you are started you will think of it no more
than crossing the Thames. * * *
“ This is a flourishing place, a new English Church is to be
built here this next spring ; two Presbyterian Chapels, and
two Methodist ones ; a new College is also to be built, a9
large as Cambridge ; Parliament House and Prison ; a large
Hospital; there are five large steam boats on the lake, and
one of two hundred horse power, which will be finished next
spring. More emigrants will be coming next year than ever.
Good land is sold with timber upon it for 10s. per acre. Good
beef at 2d. and 2Jd. per lb., a good goose for Is. 3d., a fowl
for 7Jd. flour dollars per barrel, which weighs 196 pounds,
which is ljd. per pound ; potatoes Is. per bushel ; apples,
2s. per bushel ; beer, ljd. per gallon; whiskey, 7d. a quart;
brandy, Is. 6d. ; gin, Is. 3d.; rum, the same. I only wish
you were here to live as we do, we want for nothing; but
when we sit down, to think how they are all starving at
home, it gives me the horrors, especially my poor father and
mother. 1 hope my dear brother James will not let them
want, and tell them I hope in the course of a little time, I shall
be able to send him something in return, as w'e are doing well.
My dear Sister, 1 hope you will oblige me, and send this
letter to Frome, as soon as you have read it, as John Hill
is coming, and we long to see him ; and John Hill I hope
will help my brother Henry out, and be not afraid, for we will
pay you his expenses when you get here, and we will do every
thing in our power to assist you. Be sure to bring Martha
out with you, and we will give her plenty of bacon ; tell
Henry to bring 2 donkeys with him for breeding, for they are
so valuable here, that you can get 30/. for them, when you
get here : a man brought 2 with him lately, and was offered
30/. for them and would not take it. Tell John Hill* to
come with all speed, for he will do better here than ever he
+ This man and his family, consisting altogether of 14 persons, left
Frome, for Canada, very lately.
83
did in England, and be sure to bring a good gun, for you need
not be afraid of shooting, for this is the place to live in. I
wish my father and mother would venture to come; we would
keep them as long as they live, and keep them comfortable.
John when you arrive, I hope we shall have a merry meet¬
ing ; tell my brothers, John, William, and James, that
carpenters have a capital trade here all the year round, and
basket makers would soon get a good fortune ; all trades are
very good indeed, and God send you all out with speed. Go
to Samuel Stint and tell them to come directly, and tell Stint
to go to Mr. Gillet and tell him to come here, for stone¬
work is plenty, there is more work going on than we can
tell them. Tell my brother John if he will come, he can
do well here ; but if he cannot raise the means to come at
present, I hope in the course of another year we shall be able
to help him. When you come, you had better come by New
York, than come by the Canal. Bring some good sharp
apples, lemons, beer and cider, cheese and onions, pickled
cabbage and vinegar, those are the particular articles you will
want.
«* Dear Sister, as soon as you receive this letter, let Ben¬
jamin copy it and send it to Frome, as John Hill, his wife and
family, are coming out as soon as they receive it ; bring out
some lace and net for caps, and needles of different kinds.
When you come, you must come to York, Upper Canada,
and enquire for Young-street, near Dulchee’s foundry.
Your affectionate Brother and Sister,
George and Anne Carpenter ."
To Mr. Henry Beelbeck,
2, Adam’s-row, Hampstead-road, London.
9.
“ Back-street, Southwold, 15th March, 1831.
“ My Dear Father,
“ As it is now nearly twelve months since I left Corsley ;
I thought I would write you a few lines, to inform you how I
am situated, and what’s my opinion of this country. When I
84
u
first came to Quebec, I felt desirous of going through the
country up to Mr. J. Silcogs; I found my means very small,
as I had 900 miles to go. I got my sister a good place of
service, and as some of her acquaintance stopped there, she
seemed very willing to stay. I then borrowed some money
of Jerry Annett; we both set off for Upper Canada together.
We were eight weeks and three days coming to Quebec, and
four weeks coming to Southwold. I then went to work for
Mr.* Silcog four months, and Jerry Annett worked on the next
farm. I have worked some at my trade ; a person that can work
well, can get a dollar and a half per day, and in the harvest
field we can get a dollar per day. I like this part of the
country very well ; I intend staying here this summer ; I
design working at my trade. I have been working on a farm*
chopping, and other work ; but I have been very unfortunate,
I’ve cut myself four or five times : I cut my hand in the
summer whilst mowing with Meredith Orman, on Mr. Silcog’s
field ; I cut my foot very bad four weeks ago, its not well vet.
I cut two of my toes off ; Mr. Silcog sewed them on again;
they seem to be getting on very well considering the time.
You must not think that I dislike the country on account of
my misfortunes, for if I was to cut my leg right off, I should
not think of returning to Corsley again, for I could do much
better here with one leg than in Corsley with two ; there is
plenty of hard work here, we can always have plenty to do ;
we board and lodge with the persons we work for. I am chop¬
ping now for Mr. Allworth, on his farm joining Mr. Silcog’s.
If any of my old acquaintances have got tired of being slaves
and drudges, tell them to come to Upper Canada, to William
Singer, bricklayer, he’ll take them by the liand and lead them
to hard work, good wages, and the best of living. If James
and George Moore, Thomas Hopkins, Thomas Batcher,
Isaac Cuff, Mr. Tyler, Blacksmith, or any others, with your¬
self and my Uncle, should like to come out, I’m sure any of
them could do well here ; I should like you and the family to
come out, for you would do much better here. Old George
Silcog likes the country very well, but if any one was coming
out he wished you to bring a cask of James Knight’s strong
beer, as we can’t get any so good here ; we can get whiskey
at about half a dollar per gallon, as strong as the gin you get
in England ; if any one was coming out, I should be glad if
you would send me a plaistering trowel, as we can’t get any
here. I could have earned a good many dollars more, if I
had got one ; I should be glad to see you all here, but if you
do not like to come yourself, I should like you to send my
eldest brother out, as I could do much better for him than he
could do at home. I hope all the family is well, likewise all
my acquaintance and friends.
“ William Dredge is at Dundas, about 100 miles from me ;
his wife died .about two months ago. We have eight English
families in about two miles, all from Corsley and Westbury ;
they are all well, and doing well; they are all very busy making
sugar; this part of the country is very fine. The winter has
been more than commonly severe, but I’ve not found it colder
than in England. I should like you to send me a letter as
soon as you can, filled with the news of your country. I
hope you look well to the children, as they have got no mo¬
ther, or any one but you to look to ; let my grandmother
know, if she is living, and my cousins at Westbury, that I
am well.
“ William Moody told me, he was coming out, but I have
seen nothing of him ; he had better come ; his trade is as
good as money making here. I shall conclude, by hoping you
and all the family are well; and assuring you that I remain
your loving son,
“ William Singer
To Mr. John Singer, Bricklayer,
Corsley, England.
Note —I have taken no liberty with the forgoing Letters, except in a
few cases that of improving the orthography.
86
i
Table showing the Highest, Lowest, and Mean Temperature
of each Month, in Upper and Lower Canada, during the
year 1820. Latitude about 42° north in Upper Canada,
and latitude 45° north, or thereabouts, in Lower Canada.
Thermometer—Fahrenheit.
1820.
Upper Canada.
Lower Canada.
, Maxi-
i mum.
Mini¬
mum.
Mean.
Max¬
imum
Mini.
mum.
Mean.
January,
48
-20
18.17
33
-23
11.14
February,
50
8
23.87
40
-29
10.69
March,
52
0
26.94
47
-26
12.13
April,
83
40
59.70
81
9
48.91
May,
92
40
67.32
92
30
67.84
Juno,
97
57
77.51
95
55
76.34
July,
103
60
81.37
103
62
82.23
August,
99
55
73.24
100
58
74.7
September,
92
33
64.45
90
30
59.16
October,
74
28
48.
55
9
32.24
November,
54
10
34.53
40
-13
17.44
December,
41
-2
25.43
43
-21
11.94
For the Year, -
73.8
25.72
48.37
68.25
11.75
42.1
For the SummerMonthsl
June, July, August, J
99.66
57.33
77.37
99.33
58.33
77.54
Winter Months, - (
46.33
-4.67
22.49
38.66
-24.33
11.25
From a Parliamentary Document it appears that Emigration
to the Canadas, during a period of Nine Years, has been
very considerable:
Years.
British
North
American
Colonies.
British
West
Indies.
Cape of
Good Hope.
New South
Wales,
Van Die-
man’s Land
and Swan
River.
Total.
1821
No. of
Persons.
12,470
No. of
Persons.
1,772
No. of
Persons.
404
No. of
Persons.
320
No. of
Persons.
14,966
1822
11,282
1,423
192
875
13,772
1823
8,133
1,911
184
543
10,771
1824
7,311
1,353
119
780
9,563
1825
8,741
1,082
114
485
10,422
1826
12,818
1,913
116
903
15,750
1827
12,648
1,156
114
715
14,633
1828
12,084
1,211
135
1,056
14,486
1829
13,907
1,251
197
2,016
17,371
87
With respect to the numbers who went to the Canadas, in
the last year, we have the following article:
“ We are assured by the Quebec Gazette of the 2d of
November, that nearly 50,000 emigrants had arrived out
during the present year. This great mass of persons, we
know from private sources, readily found work; or, in the
phraseology of the country, they had been absorbed. We
cannot but think this a matter of congratulation ; it assures
us the unemployed labouring poor of this country, may safely
and wisely be encouraged to emigrate at a cheap rate to a
land which will at once give them employment and the means
of a liberal subsistence; and as a convincing proof how
advantageously such emigration will work for the benefit of
the mother country, we are enabled to state that 170,000
quarters of wheat, have this season been shipped at Quebec
for England, as well as 50,000 barrels of flour. These
shipments, of course, were the produce of the harvest in
1830; the harvest of 1831 was not ready for market, and
though the harvest has been gathered in, and was not a bad
one, yet it was calculated it would not offer for exportation
next year, a larger quantity of grain than has been shipped
lliis present season. It is true a greater breadth of land was
sowed this season, but the harvest generally had not been so
productive, particularly in Lower Canada, where the common
red wheats are produced; but of the white wheats, which
are the production of Upper Canada, a full quantity had been
gathered in. The price of the Upper Canada white wheat at
Quebec was from 6s. 3 d. to 6s. 6d. per bushel, and of the
Lower Canada, or red wheat, from 5s. 6d. t the minot, (the
minot contains about half a gallon more than the bushel,)
but as it does not come so clean to market as the produce of
the Upper Provinces, it may be safely quoted at 5s. Sd. the
bushel. The quantity of ashes shipped this year is, 50,000
barrels. As a proof that the landing 50,000 strangers at
Quebec, had produced no distress, we are enabled to state,
that the emigrant hospital, which will hold but 150 distressed
objects, was not full. We have said that 50,000 emigrants
have been landed this year at Quebec; we should also state
that many thousands are landed who are not registered.”
COURIER OF THE 12TH OF DECEMBER,
from Hampshire Telegraph.
88
Colonel Cover fs Address to the Northumberland Agricultural
Association, on the culture of Hemp ♦
Gentlemen,
It gives me pleasure to be a member of this Agricultural
Society, instituted for the improvement and prosperity of the
country, a society whose province it is, both to give and
receive information on all agricultural purposes. Being
requested by several persons now present, as well as from
other local circumstances, to give my opinion on the growth
of hemp in this district, I feel great satisfaction in recom¬
mending its culture to your notice. From the fair trial and
Successful experiments I made last year of the plant, and the
advantages likely to accrue to this Province from the manu¬
facture and demand of the article, I should think it a subject
which well merits the attention of every agricultural society.
From a treatise I am about to publish on hemp, I trust before
long, to show the land owners of this Province, both by
precept and example, that the adoption of this mode of
husbandry will produce us a large return, and upon an average
remunerate us better than any other crop on our farms.
In speaking on the subject, I may take this opportunity
of giving publicity to the kind intentions of the govern¬
ment towards us, as well as to refute the misrepresentations
of a few persons who have sought to prejudice the farmer
against the cultivation of hemp.
Gentlemen, in a national concern of great importance, our
zeal must not be damped by the tergiversations and feeble
opposition of a few selfish individuals. In an honorable
transaction, and the improvement of our agricultural pursuits,
our motives must be considered good and will be well appreciat¬
ed by a liberal and discerning public. It is at these our public
meetings, that candour and fair argument will prevail—it is
here that any system of husbandry may be discountenanced,
or approved of and recommended.
We find the hemp plant is indigenous to the Canadas, the
soil being friendly to its growth. From the good quality of'the
crops I raised last year, I am satisfied that hemp of the best
kind may be successfully cultivated on our lands; for which
we have a sure and ready market to any extent. I am aware
r
that in all new undertakings there may be some hazard of
success; we have old habits and prejudices to overcome;
different interests to reconcile; but that ordeal is passed and
that risk I first took on myself, that I might mislead no one.
I am happy to say, that although I had to contend with many
difficulties and impositions, yet the result has been favorable,
and the enterprize crowned with success.
With a view to facilitate and encourage the growth of
hemp by our land owners, I built some hemp mills, and pro¬
vided the farmer with good seed—and although we had an
unfavourable season, our crops on good land were excellent,
averaging about a ton to every three acres. I feel then confi¬
dent that when the process and advantage of the hemp
husbandry is better understood, it will by degrees become
popular and be more generally sown. While we read of the
“ march of intellect” in other parts of the Globe, of their
new inventions, and various improvements, are the Canadas
alone, with a soil and climate in their favour, to remain
stationary? are we only to toil for a bare living on our farms?
But to proceed—Gentlemen, this province, so fruitful in its
resources, seems to further require a produce and a valuable
raw material suitable to the English market and of demand in
Europe; which shall enrich the farmer and afford us that
circulating medium so much wanted among us. From the
observations and calculations which I have made, I have
reason to believe, the general cultivation and manufacture of
hemp in the Canadas, would in time effect this grand object,
and at the same time, much raise this colony in the estimation
of the mother country and the mercantile world.
The strength and quality of the hemp grown here last
season has been satisfactory, and a sample of it, which I had
the honor of presenting to the Lieutenant Governor at my
mills, was forwarded to Commodore Barry at Kingston, who
pronounced it to be as good as the Riga or Peterboro’ hemp.
On this assurance the British Government have offered to
spend from 1 to £*200,000 a year with this Colony in the
purchase of good hemp, if we will but grow the article and
earn the money. I myself have received an order for twenty
tons, at £50 the ton. It seems then gentlemen to rest with
the land owners whether we shall avail ourselves of the
90
friendly offers of the mother country towards us—should we
hesitate! can we do better! If we take into consideration
the number of cultivated acres of land in this Province, and
every farmer would sow a sixteenth part of his land with
hemp, it would, on a fair calculation, put £ 100,000 in circu¬
lation annually among us. I appeal then to the good sense of
this Company, whether those are not strong and liberal induce¬
ments held out to us to learn and attend to the cultivation of
hemp in Canada, and thus render it the mart for the English
market. It is understood Cobourg will soon become a Govern¬
ment depot for hemp, under the Commissariat of Kingston ;
if then, to a ready money and handy market for our produce,
we add the acquisition of mills to facilitate the dressing of
the hemp. We must consider the former objections to its
growth done away with, and the Newcastle District will first
have the honor and advantage of establishing in the Canadas
this valuable article of commerce.
Gentlemen, at another time it may be necessary for me to
extend my observations on this important subject, and I will
only notice for the present, that the expenses of preparing a
field of wheat, or hemp, and harvesting them, are nearly the
same. Where the hemp is mowed and not pulled, the extra
trouble is in rotting, drying and dressing the hemp; but
while hemp is worth «£o0 the ton, and is not likely to be
lower, the value of the produce will well repay the extra
trouble, and with the addition of the seed, yield on an average
nearly double the value of the wheat—the produce and pas¬
turage of our rich meadow land can alone equal the return of
a hempen crop.—In corroboration of the above statement, I
have read you the reports of Messrs. Bethune, Ash, Brock,
Burnham, Hinds, Hagerman, Mallory, and other new growers
of hemp, now present, who upon an average, by their own
avowal raised at the rate of 1,500 weight of hemp on two
acres, and also seed to the amount of 10 bushels the acre;
we may then all judge of the value of a crop of hemp to any
extent. It gives me pleasure to have such satisfactory proof
of the advantage of growing hemp on our lands.
I am willing to court and to answer any further enquiries
on the subject, and for the present, gentlemen, will leave its
merits and adoption to your future consideration.
91
ECCLESIASTICAL DEPARTMENT.
CLERGY OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
The Honorable and Right Reverend Charles James Stewart, D.D.
Lord Bishop of Quebec.
The Venerable George O'Kill Stuart, L.L.D. Archdeacon of Kingston.
The Honorable and Venerable John Strachan, I). D. Archdeacon
of York.
Domestic Chaplain , 8(c .—Reverend Robert D. Cartwright, A.M.
Visiting Missionary to the Diocese. —Rev. G. Archbold.
EASTERN DISTRICT.
xs tff CKcv. F. Myers.
Matilda, Sfc. £ Rev n. Robertson, Assistant Minister .
Williamsbvrgh and C Rev. J. G. Weagant.
Osnabrnck , 1 Rev. F. Mack, Assistant Minister.
Cornwall , Sfc. ^Rev. J. L. Alexander, Curate.
BATHURST DISTRICT.
Perth , Sfc. —Rev. M. Harris, A. M.
Beckwith, 8fc. —Rev. R. Harte, A.B.
Richmond , Sfc. —Rev. It. Short.
March, 8fc. —(Vacant.)
JOHNSTOWN DISTRICT,
r Rev. J. Weuhain, Chaplain to the Lord Bishop,
BrockvMe,— < (absent.)
L Rev.-Gunning, (in temporary charge.)
Prescott, Sfc.— Rev. R. Blakey.
Yonge , 8fe. —Rev. R. Elms.
Oxford and Malborough —Rev. H. Patton.
MIDLAND DISTRICT,
fRev. G. O. Stuart, L. L. D.
Kingston , [ Kov T Handcock, A. M. Assistant Minister.
Bath , Ernestaum , Sfc. —Rev. J. Stoughton.
Adolphnstoim, fyc. —Rev. J. Deacon.
Hallov'ell , Sfc. —Rev. William Macaulay.
Belleville , See. —Rev. T. Campbell.
Carrying Place, (Township of Murray ,) 8fc. —Rer. J. Grier.
NEWCASTLE DISTRICT.
Cohourg, Sfc.— Rev. A. N. Bethune.
Port Hope, Sfc. —Rev. J. Coglau, A. B.
Cavan, §c. —Rev. J. Thomson.
Peterborough, Sfc. Rev. S. Armour.
HOME DISTRICT.
York,SfC. —Hon. and Rev. J. Strachan, D. D. Archdeacon of York.
Toronto, Sfc. —Rev. J. Magrath.
Markham and Vaughan, —Rev. P. Mayerhoffer.
GORE DISTRICT.
Ancaster , Barton, 1 Rev. J. Miller, M. A. and
Hamilton and Dnndas, J Rev. R. Leeming.
Missionaries to the Six-Nation 1 Rev. R. Lugger, and
Indians on the Grand River, J Rev. A. Nelles.
NIAGARA DISTRICT.
Niagara,—'Rev T. Creen.
Chippewa, Stamford, and Queenston, —Rev. W. Leeming.
Gnmsfn/, &r. —Rev. R. Grout.
St. Catharines, tyc. —Rev. J. Clarke, A. M.
Waterloo , Fort Erie, Sfc. —Rev. J. Anderson.
92
LONDON DISTRICT.
St Thomas, 8cc.— Rev. M. Burnham, A. B.
i\r. l nomas, <yc.—ivev. in. ouruuam,
IVoodhouse , SfC .— Rev. F. Evans.
London, %c.— Rev. E. J. Boswell.
WESTERN DISTRICT*
Amherstburgh, 8fC .— Rev. R. Rolph.
Sandwich, —Rev. William Johnson.
Chatham, $c.— Rev. T. Morley.
CHAPLAINS TO THE FORCES.
Kingston ,—Rev. R. W. Tanney.
York, —Rev. J. Hudson, M. A.
CORPORATION FOR SUPERINTENDING AND MANAGING
THE CLERGY RESERVES.
The Lord Bishop.
The Established Clergy.
The Inspector General.
The Surveyor General.
Secretary ,—The Honorable George H. Markland.
Agents ,—The resident Clergy in the several Districts.
Meetings of the Board—the first Tuesday in the months of February—*
May—August—and November.
X.B.—A General Meeting is held in February.
CLERGY IN COMMUNION WITH THE ESTABLISHED
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.
Williamstawn —The Rev. J. M'Kenzie.
Lochiel— The Rev. J. M'Laurin.
Cornwall —The Rev. Mr. Urqnhart.
Martintoum —The Rev. A. M‘Connell.
Perth —The Rev. Thomas Willson.
By town —The Rev. Mr. Crookshank.
Kingston —The Rev. J. Machar.
Ancaster —The Rev. Mr. Sheed.
Niagara —The Rev. H. M‘Gill.
London —The Rev. A. Ross.
Amherstburgh —The Rev. Mr. Gale.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY IN UPPER CANADA.
St. Andretcs and Cornwall —Rev. William Ft
Eraser— Hector.
Prescott and JBrocknille—Rev. Timothy O’Meara,
Bvtown —Rev. Angus M‘Donell,
Peterborough— Rev. James Crowley,
York —Very Rev. W. J. O’Grady,
Toronto and Adjala— Rev. Edward Gordon,
Niagara, Guelph and Dundos —Rev. John Cullen,
Amherstburgh y &c. —Rev. J. Fluett,
Sandwich and Rochester —Rev. Joseph Crevier.